Coronary risk in spinal cord injury: assessment following a multivariate approach.

A group of 96 men with spinal cord injury was studied to find out if patients with spinal cord injury were at an increased risk of coronary heart disease. A multivariate approach based on data produced by the Framingham study was used to estimate the probability of developing coronary artery disease within six years. Data obtained from the 96 patients were compared with data obtained from 96 nontrained, able-bodied men matched according to age. The results of this study suggest that patients with spinal cord injury show a risk of coronary artery disease similar to that estimated in non-trained, age-matched, able-bodied individuals. The risk increases with age, but it is of the same order as that found in the normal population and does not appear to be related to the duration of the disease. The results are inconclusive in regard to the level of the lesion as an independent factor of risk.