Sherman R A, Ernst J L, Markowski J
Department of Clinical Investigation, DD Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, Georgia.
Paraplegia. 1987 Dec;25(6):466-74. doi: 10.1038/sc.1987.79.
Thermograms showing heat patterns in the trunk of the body were taken of ten intact subjects, seven subjects with incomplete spinal cord injuries (SCI), and fifteen subjects diagnosed as having complete SCIs. Fourteen of the subjects with complete SCIs had a thermal demarcation line across the trunk. This line represented a temperature gradient of one to 2.5 degrees Celsius between a relatively warm upper level where sensations were normal and a relatively cool lower level in which sensations were either absent or different from pre-injury sensations. The transition zone was narrow and sharp for ten of the complete SCI subjects but was wide and gradual for the other five complete SCI subjects. The shape and width of the thermal transition zone corresponded to the location and degree of abruptness with which sensations changed from normal to abnormal. One of the subjects diagnosed as having a complete SCI failed to show a significant transition zone. The temperature difference between the upper and lower portions of his trunk was less than one degree Celsius. None of the intact or incomplete SCI subjects produced the transition zone. Only one incomplete SCI subject showed even a minimal difference in temperature between the normal sensation and abnormal sensation levels. A panel blind to the subjects' conditions was unable to differentiate between intact and incomplete SCI subjects but was able to sort complete from incomplete SCI subjects in all but the case with an indistinct transition zone.
对10名身体完好的受试者、7名不完全脊髓损伤（SCI）受试者以及15名被诊断为完全性SCI的受试者拍摄了显示身体躯干热模式的热成像图。15名完全性SCI受试者中有14名在躯干上有一条热分界线。这条线代表了相对温暖的上部区域（感觉正常）和相对凉爽的下部区域（感觉缺失或与受伤前不同）之间1到2.5摄氏度的温度梯度。对于10名完全性SCI受试者，过渡区狭窄且明显，但对于另外5名完全性SCI受试者，过渡区宽且平缓。热过渡区的形状和宽度与感觉从正常变为异常的位置和突然程度相对应。一名被诊断为完全性SCI的受试者未显示出明显的过渡区。他躯干上下部分的温差小于1摄氏度。身体完好或不完全性SCI的受试者均未产生过渡区。只有一名不完全性SCI受试者在正常感觉和异常感觉水平之间显示出哪怕是最小的温度差异。一个对受试者情况不知情的小组无法区分身体完好和不完全性SCI受试者，但除了过渡区不明显的情况外，能够将完全性SCI受试者与不完全性SCI受试者区分开来。
