Surgical Considerations to Improve Recovery in Acute Spinal Cord Injury.

Acute traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) can be a devastating and costly event for individuals, their families, and the health system as a whole. Prognosis is heavily dependent on the physical extent of the injury and the severity of neurological dysfunction. If not treated urgently, individuals can suffer exacerbated secondary injury cascades that may increase tissue injury and limit recovery.

Effect of Acute Physical Interventions on Pathophysiology and Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature.

Physical rehabilitation is essential for enhancing recovery in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI); however, aside from early surgical intervention and hemodynamic management, there are no proven interventions for promoting recovery in the acute phase. In general, early rehabilitation is considered beneficial, but optimal parameters and potential contraindications for implementing rehabilitation at very early time points are unclear. Moreover, clinical trials to date are limited to studies initiating rehabilitation 2 weeks after injury and later.

Induction of Neurogenesis and Angiogenesis in a Rat Hemisection Spinal Cord Injury Model With Combined Neural Stem Cell, Endothelial Progenitor Cell, and Biomimetic Hydrogel Matrix Therapy.

Unlabelled: Acute spinal cord injury is a devastating injury that may lead to loss of independent function. Stem-cell therapies have shown promise; however, a clinically efficacious stem-cell therapy has yet to be developed. Functionally, endothelial progenitor cells induce angiogenesis, and neural stem cells induce neurogenesis.

Author Correction: Multicellular 3D Neurovascular Unit Model for Assessing Hypoxia and Neuroinflammation Induced Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Multicellular 3D Neurovascular Unit Model for Assessing Hypoxia and Neuroinflammation Induced Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a dynamic component of the brain-vascular interface that maintains brain homeostasis and regulates solute permeability into brain tissue. The expression of tight junction proteins between adjacent endothelial cells and the presence of efflux proteins prevents entry of foreign substances into the brain parenchyma. BBB dysfunction, however, is evident in many neurological disorders including ischemic stroke, trauma, and chronic neurodegenerative diseases.

Spinal cord injury pharmacotherapy: Current research & development and competitive commercial landscape as of 2015.

Context: Current treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI) focuses on cord stabilization to prevent further injury, rehabilitation, management of non-motor symptoms, and prevention of complications. Currently, no approved treatments are available, and limited treatment options exist for symptoms and complications associated with chronic SCI. This review describes the pharmacotherapy landscape in SCI from both commercial and research and development (R&D) standpoints through March 2015.

Neurocognitive outcomes after extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been a therapy of last resort for the treatment of severe cardiorespiratory failure since the 1970s [1]. In recent years, ECMO has seen a resurgence in its use in adults. Recent work examining rates of ECMO use in the US adult population, using Nationwide Inpatient Sample data, quotes an increase in use of 433% from 2006 to 2011 [2].

Manganese superoxide dismutase expression in endothelial progenitor cells accelerates wound healing in diabetic mice.

Amputation as a result of impaired wound healing is a serious complication of diabetes. Inadequate angiogenesis contributes to poor wound healing in diabetic patients. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) normally augment angiogenesis and wound repair but are functionally impaired in diabetics.