Five-year longitudinal bone evaluations in individuals with chronic complete spinal cord injury.

Background/objectives: Knowledge of spinal cord injury (SCI) bone changes has been derived primarily through cross-sectional studies, many of which are controvertible. Longitudinal studies are sparse, and long-term longitudinal chronic studies are unavailable. The objective of this study was to provide a clearer perception of chronic longitudinal bone variations in people with complete SCI.

Bone loss at the os calcis compared with bone loss at the knee in individuals with spinal cord injury.

Background/objective: The objective of this study was to document acute bone loss at the os calcis and compare it with bone loss at the knee following spinal cord injury (SCI) as a potential proxy for bone loss in individuals with SCI.

Methods: Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) at the knee and os calcis, which also was assessed by ultrasound in 6 individuals--5 with complete SCI and 1 with incomplete SCI--at means of 33.5 and 523 days following injury.

Risk factors for osteoporosis at the knee in the spinal cord injury population.

Background: The objective of this study was to determine modifiable and nonmodifiable risk factors for bone loss at the knee in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) by examining known risk factors for osteoporosis in the general population and additional, unique nonmodifiable SCI elements including age at injury onset, injury duration, and extent of neurologic injury (level and completeness).

Methods: Risk factors were examined by logistic regression in 152 individuals with chronic SCI. Knees were classified as osteoporotic based on whether bone mineral density (BMD) of the knee as assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry fell within the 95% confidence interval of the BMD of the knee of individuals who had experienced fractures at the knee.

Heterotopic ossification complicating prolonged intubation: case report and review of the literature.

Background: Within the past decade several reports have been published concerning heterotopic ossification (HO) in adult respiratory distress syndrome patients subjected to prolonged mechanical ventilation. The knee has been the most common site of involvement, which tends to differentiate this entity of HO from those previously described.

Method: Case report and literature review.