[Medical treatment of spinal cord injury during the acute phase. Effect of a calcium inhibitor].

Post traumatic ischemia appears to be largely involved for the extension of lesions in acute injury of the spinal cord. The present study evaluate the putative improvement of spinal cord blood flow (S.C.B.F.) by calcium channel blocker after acute spinal cord injury in baboons. S.C.B.F. measured by a scannographic technique with 133Xe were realised each thirty min for 4 hours and seven days later; somatosensory evoked potentials (S.E.P.) magnetic resonance imaging (M.R.I.) and histological study of the spine were realised at different time of the experimentation. Ten monkey were used. Acute trauma was achieved by compression of the cord at T1 by applying a 2.10(2) kPa (2 bar) pressure for 5 s with a balloon catheter inflated with Ringer's solution. Then, five monkeys received saline infusion for seven days and the other five received a nimodipine infusion (0.04 mg.kg-1.h-1) during the same time. Nimodipine improved significantly S.C.B.F. Two monkeys in the treated group showed improvement of axonal function as judged by S.E.P. Conversely no significant difference was noted by R.M.I. although the histological study showed smaller lesions in the treated group. Nimodipine could represent in the next years a new medical treatment in acute spinal cord injury in man.