C1:C2 ratio is a potential tool assessing atlas fracture displacement and transverse ligament injury.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the reliability of a C1:C2 ratio in a cohort of patients with atlas fractures. Second, we aimed to consider the utility of the C1:C2 ratio with regard to diagnosis of transverse ligament (TL) injury.

Design: This is a retrospective analysis.

Acute spinal cord injuries before and after the New Zealand Spinal Cord Impairment Action Plan.

Background: Early medical and surgical intervention in acute spinal cord injuries can improve long-term functional outcomes. This study aims to observe the effects of the New Zealand (NZ) Spinal Cord Impairment Action Plan on timing to acute decompression and comparing this to the period prior to the policy change.

Method: Data were collected in the form a retrospective audit from medical records of 12 patients admitted to Middlemore Hospital from 2010 to 2013 prior to the NZ Spinal Cord Impairment Action Plan, and 11 patients from 2014 to 2015 following the policy change.

Early Decompression following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury: Examining the Process of Care from Accident Scene to Surgery.

Early decompression may improve neurological outcome after spinal cord injury (SCI), but is often difficult to achieve because of logistical issues. The aims of this study were to 1) determine the time to decompression in cases of isolated cervical SCI in Australia and New Zealand and 2) determine where substantial delays occur as patients move from the accident scene to surgery. Data were extracted from medical records of patients aged 15-70 years with C3-T1 traumatic SCI between 2010 and 2013.

Exposure to harmful housing conditions is common in children admitted to Wellington Hospital.

Aim: To measure the prevalence of exposure to potentially modifiable risk factors in the homes of children hospitalised in Wellington.

Methods: Parents/caregivers of all children admitted to Wellington Public Hospital during a two-week period in July 2012 completed a standardised questionnaire in a face-to-face interview. The questionnaire collected sociodemographic, health and housing condition data.

Mass spectra of N-substituted cantharidinimides.

The mass spectra of a series of N-substituted cantharidinimides were examined. The feature of this series compounds is a sequential double hydrogen transfer from the oxabicycloheptane unit to either the carbonyl group of the succinimide unit or the nitrogen atom of the pyridyl or thiazolyl substituent through space. The ability of the N-substituent to accept a hydrogen atom possibly leads to the different fragmentation pathway.