Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, 154 Anshan Avenue, Tianjin, 300052, China. [corrected]
Eur Spine J. 2012 Jan;21(1):165-71. doi: 10.1007/s00586-011-2041-x. Epub 2011 Oct 27.
The epidemiology of spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality (SCIWORA) is less frequently reported in adults as compared with children. The annual incidence of SCIWORA was approximately 5.74% per million in Tianjin from 2004 to 2008. Importantly, the epidemiological characteristics of adult SCIWORA may be different from that in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the radiological-clinical data of patients with adult SCIWORA, and to relatively analyze the epidemiological features.
Inpatients with cervical SCIWORA who were 16 and above in Tianjin were admitted in municipal hospitals in Tianjin from 2004 to 2008; all the patients received MRI scanning in sagittal and axial views. Epidemiological characteristics, such as injury origin, injury level or severity, neurological scale and MRI feature were acquired.
In total, 203 patients were enrolled. The average age among the adult groups was 55.9 years (men 55.8 years, women 53.6 years). SCIWORA occurred more commonly in adults in the 46-60 age group, and falls were the leading cause of injury (52.2%), followed by vehicular injury (28.6%). The most predominantly affected level was C4/5 (48.7%), followed by C5/6 (30.5%) and C3/4 (12.8%), respectively. The occurrence of central cord syndrome (50.2%) with posterior longitudinal ligament tear (43.8%) was relatively higher than other injury patterns.
It is clear that adult cervical SCIWORA is different from that in the pediatric group. Our study highlights the epidemiological properties of adult SCIWORA in Tianjin, China. Differing from other reports, particularly epidemiology study, we represent the first report regarding adult SCIWORA from China. As the geriatric population increases, it is very important to set up an individualized evaluation system based on a nationally scaled epidemiological database. The results from our study will be useful in assisting in the creation of such a database.
与儿童相比，成人无放射影像学异常的脊髓损伤（SCIWORA）的流行病学报道较少。2004 年至 2008 年期间，天津的 SCIWORA 年发病率约为每百万人 5.74%。重要的是，成人 SCIWORA 的流行病学特征可能与儿童不同。本研究旨在评估天津成人 SCIWORA 患者的放射学-临床资料，并进行相对分析。
2004 年至 2008 年期间，天津市市级医院收治的颈段 SCIWORA 住院患者，年龄 16 岁以上；所有患者均接受矢状面和轴面 MRI 扫描。获取了流行病学特征，如损伤起源、损伤水平或严重程度、神经量表和 MRI 特征。
共纳入 203 例患者。成人组平均年龄为 55.9 岁（男性 55.8 岁，女性 53.6 岁）。46-60 岁成人中 SCIWORA 更为常见，损伤原因主要是跌倒（52.2%），其次是车辆损伤（28.6%）。最常受累的节段为 C4/5（48.7%），其次为 C5/6（30.5%）和 C3/4（12.8%）。中央脊髓综合征（50.2%）伴后纵韧带撕裂（43.8%）的发生率相对较高。
成人颈段 SCIWORA 明显不同于儿童组。本研究强调了中国天津成人 SCIWORA 的流行病学特征。与其他报告不同，特别是流行病学研究，我们代表了中国成人 SCIWORA 的首次报告。随着老年人口的增加，基于全国规模的流行病学数据库建立个体化评估体系非常重要。我们的研究结果将有助于协助建立这样的数据库。
