Objective

To determine the alterations in cardiac structure and function that occur in the months after spinal cord injury (SCI).

Study Design

Cross-sectional

Setting

Rehabilitation Hospital

Participants

Volunteers (N=29; 4 women, 25 men) between 3 and 24 months after SCI.

Main Outcome Measures

Transthoracic echocardiography was performed on each volunteer. The relationships between time since injury and neurologic and sensory levels of injury to cardiac structure and function were assessed via multiple linear regression.

Results

Time since injury was most strongly associated with reductions in left ventricular end diastolic volume (r²=0.156; P=.034), end systolic volume (r²=0.141; P=.045), and mass (r²=0.138; P=.047). These structural changes were paralleled by reduced stroke volume (r²=0.143; P=.043) and cardiac output (r²=0.317; P=<.001). The reductions in left ventricular structure and systolic function were not differentially affected by neurologic or sensory levels of injury (P=.084-.921).

Conclusions

These results suggest progressive reductions in left ventricular structure and systolic function between 3 and 24 months after SCI that occur independent of neurologic and sensory levels of injury.

中文翻译：

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脊髓损伤 24 个月后心脏结构和功能的降低：一项横断面研究

客观的

确定脊髓损伤 (SCI) 后几个月内发生的心脏结构和功能的变化。

学习规划

横截面

环境

康复医院

参与者

SCI 后 3 至 24 个月的志愿者（N=29；4 名女性，25 名男性）。

主要观察指标

对每位志愿者进行经胸超声心动图检查。通过多元线性回归评估受伤后的时间与心脏结构和功能的神经和感觉损伤水平之间的关系。

结果

受伤后的时间与左心室舒张末期容积 ( r ² =0.156; P =.034)、收缩末期容积 ( r ² =0.141; P =.045) 和质量 ( r ² =0.138; P =.047)。这些结构变化伴随着每搏输出量（r ² =0.143；P =.043）和心输出量（r ² =0.317；P =<.001）的减少。左心室结构和收缩功能的减少不受神经或感觉损伤水平的不同影响（P =.084-.921）。

结论

这些结果表明，在 SCI 后 3 至 24 个月之间，左心室结构和收缩功能逐渐降低，这与神经和感觉损伤水平无关。