title: Discrepancies between clinical assessments of sensory function and electrical perceptual thresholds after incomplete chronic cervical spinal cord injury.
abstract: METHODS
  Prospective experimental.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare sensory function as revealed by light touch and pin prick tests of the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) and the electrical perceptual threshold (EPT) exams in individuals with chronic incomplete cervical spinal cord injury (SCI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Pittsburgh, United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  EPT was tested using cutaneous electrical stimulation (0.5 ms pulse width, 3 Hz) in 32 healthy controls and in 17 participants with SCI over key points on dermatomes C2 to T4 on each side of the body. Light touch and pin prick ISNCSCI scores were tested at the same key dermatomes in SCI participants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In controls, EPT values were higher in older males (1.26±0.2 mA, mean±s.d.) compared with younger males (1.0±0.2 mA) and older females (0.9±0.2 mA), regardless of the dermatome and side tested. Fifteen out of the seventeen SCI participants showed that the level of sensory impairment detected by the EPT was below the level detected by the ISNCSCI (mean=4.5±2.4, range 1-9). The frequency distribution of EPTs was similar to older male controls in dermatomes above but not below the ISNCSCI sensory level. The difference between EPT and ISNCSCI sensory level was negatively correlated with the time post injury.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results show that, in the chronic stage of cervical SCI, the EPT reveals spared sensory function at lower (~5) spinal segments compared with the ISNCSCI sensory exam. It is hence found that the EPT is a sensitive tool to assess recovery of sensory function after chronic SCI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Systems Neuroscience Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Macklin
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Systems Neuroscience Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: V J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Brooke
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Systems Neuroscience Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Calabro
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College, London, UK.
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Ellaway
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Systems Neuroscience Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Perez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D066193:Cervical Cord / Q000473:pathology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D011601:Psychophysics; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012867:Skin / Q000294:innervation; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology