Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, School of Dental and Oral Medicine, University of Cologne, Germany.
Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Medical University, Varna, Bulgaria.
J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2020 Nov 1;79(11):1203-1217. doi: 10.1093/jnen/nlaa050.
The relationships between various parameters of tissue damage and subsequent functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) are not well understood. Patients may regain micturition control and walking despite large postinjury medullar cavities. The objective of this study was to establish possible correlations between morphological findings and degree of functional recovery after spinal cord compression at vertebra Th8 in rats. Recovery of motor (Basso, Beattie, Bresnahan, foot-stepping angle, rump-height index, and ladder climbing), sensory (withdrawal latency), and bladder functions was analyzed at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 weeks post-SCI. Following perfusion fixation, spinal cord tissue encompassing the injury site was cut in longitudinal frontal sections. Lesion lengths, lesion volumes, and areas of perilesional neural tissue bridges were determined after staining with cresyl violet. The numbers of axons in these bridges were quantified after staining for class III β-tubulin. We found that it was not the area of the spared tissue bridges, which is routinely determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but the numbers of axons in them that correlated with functional recovery after SCI (Spearman's ρ > 0.8; p < 0.001). We conclude that prognostic statements based only on MRI measurements should be considered with caution.
脊髓损伤 (SCI) 后组织损伤的各种参数与随后的功能恢复之间的关系尚未得到很好的理解。尽管损伤后有很大的髓腔，但患者可能会恢复排尿控制和行走能力。本研究的目的是在大鼠 Th8 椎体脊髓压迫后，建立形态学发现与功能恢复程度之间的可能相关性。在 SCI 后 1、3、6、9 和 12 周时，分析了运动（Basso、Beattie、Bresnahan、脚步角度、臀部高度指数和爬梯）、感觉（撤回潜伏期）和膀胱功能的恢复情况。用铬花青染色后，对损伤部位的脊髓组织进行了纵向额状切片。确定了染色后损伤长度、损伤体积和损伤周围神经组织桥的面积。用 III 类β-微管蛋白染色后，对这些桥中的轴突数量进行了量化。我们发现，与 SCI 后功能恢复相关的不是常规通过磁共振成像 (MRI) 确定的剩余组织桥的面积，而是其中的轴突数量（Spearman's ρ>0.8；p<0.001）。我们得出结论，仅基于 MRI 测量的预后声明应谨慎考虑。
