Stable muscle atrophy in long-term paraplegics with complete upper motor neuron lesion from 3- to 20-year SCI.

Study Design: Unrandomized trial.

Objectives: To investigate the structural and functional relationships and the progression of muscle atrophy up to 20 years of spastic paraplegia.

Setting: Clinical follow-up in Vienna, Austria; muscle biopsies analyzed by light microscopy in Padova and by electron microscopy (EM) in Chieti, Italy.

Methods: Force was measured as knee extension torque; trophism by computer tomography scan; tissue composition and fiber morphology by histopathology and EM.

Results: In the long-term group of patients (17.0+/-2.6 years), force and size of thigh muscles were only slightly different from those of mid-term subjects (2.2+/-0.5 years). Histology and ultrastructure confirm that the difference in average size of muscle fibers between long-term and mid-term paralyzed leg muscles is actually very small. In addition, muscle fibers maintain the striated appearance characteristic of normal skeletal fibers even after 14-20 years of paralysis. Ultrastructural alterations of the activating and metabolic machineries, and the presence of fibers with lower motor neuron denervation features, may explain the low-force output and the reduced endurance of paretic muscles.

Conclusion: The stable muscle atrophy that characterizes long-lasting spastic paraplegia suggests that there are no upper-time limits to begin a training program based on functional electrical stimulation.