title: Electrocardiographic abnormalities in the early stage following traumatic spinal cord injury.
abstract: METHODS
  Retrospective cohort study.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Although cardiac arrhythmias are relatively well recognized in the chronic stage after spinal cord injury (SCI), little is known regarding its occurrence during the early stage. The objective of this study was to examine electrocardiogram changes within the first 72 h after acute traumatic SCI.
  
  
  METHODS
  Acute spine trauma center, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaMethods:This study included all consecutive patients with spine trauma admitted to our institution from January 1998 to June 2007 who had an electrocardiogram within the first 72 h post trauma. Patients were divided into four groups: (I) patients with motor complete SCI at T6 or above; (II) patients with motor incomplete SCI at T6 or above; (III) patients with spine trauma but no/minor SCI at T6 or above; and (IV) patients with SCI below T6.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 69 men and 20 women with mean age of 53.8 years (16-88 years). All groups were comparable regarding age, sex, pre-existing comorbidities and cause of SCI. There were no significant differences among the groups regarding predominant rhythm, PR interval, atrial-ventricular conduction, ventricular rate, QRS axis and intraventricular conduction abnormalities. Nonetheless, patients in Group I had longer RR interval (P=0.016), longer QTc (P=0.025) and more prolonged duration of the longest QRS (P=0.017) in comparison with the other groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that electrocardiogram abnormalities are more common within the first 72 h following acute traumatic, motor complete, cervical or high-thoracic SCI. This may represent early manifestations of autonomic dysfunction due to disruption of descending cardiovascular pathways in individuals with severe SCI at T6 or above.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Neurology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.|Department of Medicine, Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.|Lyndhurst Centre, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Furlan
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Hospital Samaritano, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.|Department of Cardiology, Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Verocai
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Hospital Municipal de Teixeira de Freitas, Teixeira de Freitas, Brazil.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Palmares
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.|Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.|Krembil Neuroscience Centre, Spinal Program, Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Fehlings
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D055815:Young Adult