[Plasma cortisol levels in the newborn infants with hypoxic and traumatic injuries of the spinal cord].

Adrenal glucocorticoid function was studied in 56 newborns with natal injuries of the cervical section of the spine and the contribution of the hypoxic factor to such injuries defined. The babies were examined by the cliniconeurologic and electron-neuromyographic methods in order to specify the level of the injury. Blood serum and umbilical blood hydrocortisone levels were radioimmunoassayed immediately at birth and on days 5-7 of life. Spinal injury at the C1-C4 level was associated with low hydrocortisone levels, that may be regarded as an additional criterion for the differentiation of the level of injury in traumas of the cervical portion of the spine in the newborns.