[Value of myelo-angiography in late cases of spinal cord injury].
42 cases of spine injury complicated with cord damage were investigated pre-operatively through myelo-angiography to look into the patterns of circulatory changes with relation to treatment and prognosis. The lag period between trauma and this examination varied from 2 months to three years. Myelo-angiograms of 23 patients with incomplete paraplegia showed no trace of A. spinalis anterior, but enlarged radicular and tortuous myelominingeal arteries, in 21 patients; in the rest 2 patients, the A. spin alia anterior appeared thinned above and blocked at the fracture site. Myelo-angiograms of 19 patients with complete paraplegia demonstrated dilated radicular arteries in 2 patients, but none of any blood vessels in the rest 17 patients. All the patients with positive A. spinalis anterior or enlarged radicular arteries regained satisfactory muscle function, useful active motion, following omental transplantation. We come the conclusion that pre-operative myeloangiography is valuable in making choice of treatment: omental transplantation or anterior decompression.
Zheng
W J
WJ
D000792:Angiography; D006801:Humans; D009192:Myelography; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000098:blood supply*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*