title: Cervical Spine Injury Recovery Prediction Scale: a means of predicting neurological recovery in patients with acute subaxial cervical spine injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a comprehensive Cervical Spine Injury Recovery Prediction Scale (CSIRPS) to predict outcomes for patients with acute subaxial cervical spine injury (CSI).
  
  
  METHODS
  42 men and 18 women (mean age, 41 years) with acute subaxial (C3-C7) CSI and a neurological deficit were evaluated clinically and radiologically after crutch-field skeletal traction. The comprehensive CSIRPS comprised 5 predictor variables: American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment scale, maximum cord compression, maximum canal compromise, signal intensity pattern in the cord, and Cervical Spine Injury Severity Score (CSISS). Point values of each predictor were weighted based on consensus and experience, and the total effect was computed using the CSIRPS. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted with the CSIRPS data to obtain the critical value that can predict walkers from non-walkers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Chi squared value for CSIRPS was 55.771 and the contingency coefficient was 0.694 (p<0.0001), both of which were highest among each predictor's corresponding values. A ROC curve was plotted with the CSIRPS data. With 100% area under the ROC curve, the critical value of 50 was identified with a sensitivity and specificity of 100%. All the patients with CSIRPS above this level regained the useful functions on follow-up, whereas patients with lower scores did not.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CSIRPS is a practical and accurate means of predicting outcomes in patients with acute subaxial CSI.
authors.affiliation: Central Institute of Orthopaedics, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College & Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Sumit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.forename: Dattatrey
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mohapatra
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000293:injuries* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013124:Spinal Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices