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Age had minimal effect on recovery after traumatic spine injuries
BOSTON — Age did not seem to have an effect on the inflammatory response or glial and axonal recovery for patients with traumatic spinal cord injuries, according to data presented at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting.
Julio C. Furlan, MD, presented the results of a 102-patient study that included post-mortem spinal cord tissue from 64 cases of spinal cord injury (SCI). Patients were divided into two groups based on age older or younger than 65 years and whether the patient survived SCI.
The two patient groups had statistically similar numbers of neutrophils, macrophages and lymphocytes in most stages after an SCI, and the number of preserved axons did not differ significantly between the two groups, according to Furlan.
Additionally, “the extent of the degeneration between the spinal cord white matter did not statistically differ between the younger and elderly individuals following traumatic spine injury,” Furlan said.
Furlan concluded that the age at the time of a traumatic spine injury did not adversely affect oligodendroglial apoptosis, cellular inflammatory response or axonal survival. Furthermore, age did not have a significant effect on neurological and functional recovery following SCI.
Furlan was presented with the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Resident Award for his study. — by Robert Linnehan
Reference:
Furlan JC. CNS Resident Award. Presented at: Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting; Oct. 18-22, 2014; Boston.
Disclosure: Furlan has no relevant financial disclosures.