Article

Although motor and sensory deficits following spinal cord injury (SCI)
are well known, there are still contrasting reports on how SCI affects baseline
cardiovascular (CV) parameters and other autonomic functions.Study
design:Meta-analysis is performed.Objectives:To examine the effect of injury
level on supine and seated CV function in individuals with SCI.Methods:A total of
98 studies representing 1968 individuals were retrieved for analysis. Systolic
blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate (HR) were
abstracted from the studies and compared between four groups according to the
neurological lesion level, cervical (C) SCI (C4-C8), high-thoracic (HT) SCI
(T1-T6), low-thoracic lumbar (LTL) SCI (below T6) and able-bodied (AB)
controls.Results:In the supine position, SBP, DBP and HR were lower in C compared
with HT, LTL and AB (all P<0.04). In the seated position, SBP and DBP were
significantly lower in C compared with LTL and AB (all P<0.003) and HR was
significantly lower in C compared with LTL only (P=0.01). A final finding was
that C exhibited a lower resting SBP in the seated compared with the supine
position (P<0.001).Conclusion:Individuals with SCI exhibit a lesion-dependent
impairment in resting CV function, whereby those with the highest injury had the
greatest degree of CV dysfunction. A further finding was that individuals with a
C injury exhibited a lower resting SBP in the seated vs supine position. Thus,
clinicians and researchers should consider lesion level and body position when
measuring and interpreting CV parameters in individuals with SCI.

Langue : ANGLAIS