Spinal Cord Health Article

Common diseases and disorders

Spinal cord injuries are usually the result of trauma to the vertebral column. When dislocations and fractures of the spine occur, the vertebrae may press on the spinal cord, thus compressing the nerves. Pressure applied to the spinal cord may result in muscle weakness or paralysis. It could also cause abnormal sensations, such as pain, tingling, or burning. In severe cases, the cord might even be torn or severed, and the function of the spinal cord risks being seriously impaired if not altogether destroyed. A damaged spinal cord results in loss of sensation and/or motor function below the level of the injury. Thus, injuries to the cord at the chest or waist level may result in paraplegia, which is paralysis of the legs and/or part of the trunk. Damage to the cord in the neck region may result in paralysis of all four limbs and the trunk, a condition called quadriplegia, and it can be fatal. Other disorders of the spinal cord include:

• Epidural abscesses. Infections that occur in the epidural space around the dura mater. These create pockets of infected fluid that affect the spinal nerve roots and generate enough pressure to impair neurological function.
• Foraminal stenosis. Normally, nerve roots have enough room to easily slip through the foramina of the spine. However, with age and disease, they may become clogged and blocked, thus trapping and compressing the nerves.
• Pinched nerve. The two nerves most commonly pinched in the spinal cord are L5 and S1. The L5 nerve supplies the nerves to the muscles that raise the foot and big toe, and a pinched L5 may lead to weakness in these muscles. Likewise, a pinched S1 may lead to weakness with the large muscle in the back of the calf.
• Sciatica. The compression of the spinal roots of the sciatic nerve. It is characterized by pain in the low back region that radiates down the back of the thigh, the leg and into the foot. It results from diseased sciatic nerve roots or can be caused by a tumor, or intervertebral disc displacement resulting from injury or inflammation.
• Spinal stenosis. A narrowing of spaces in the spine that results in pressure on the spinal cord and nerve roots. This disorder usually involves the narrowing of one or more of three areas of the spine: the vertebral canal, the canals at the base or roots of nerves branching out from the spinal cord, and the vertebral foramina. It is usually a degenerative disorder caused by old age, but may also be an inherited disease.

BOOKS

Byrne, T. N., Benzel, E. C. and S. G., Waxman. Diseases of the Spine and Spinal Cord. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Cramer, G. D. and S.A. Darby. Basic and Clinical Anatomy of the Spine, Spinal Cord, and ANS. St. Louis: Mosby, 1995.

Palmer, S., Harris, K., and J. Kriegsman. Spinal Cord Injury: A Guide for Living (Johns Hopkins Press Health Book). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000.

Reeves, C. Still Me. New York: Ballantine Books, 1999.

ORGANIZATIONS

American Paraplegia Society (APS) 75-20 Astoria Blvd., Jackson Heights, NY 11370. (718) 803-3782. <http://www.apssci.org/contactAPS.htm>.

National Spinal Cord Injury Association 701 Democracy Boulevard, Suite 300-9, Bethesda, MD 20817. (301) 588-6959; (800) 352-9424. <http://www.spinalcord.org/>.

Spinal Cord Society 19051 County Highway 1, Fergus Falls, MN 56537-7609. (218) 739-5252; (218) 739-5261. <http://members.aol.com/scsweb>.

OTHER

The Spinal Cord Injury Resource Center. <http://www.spinalinjury.net/>.

"The Spinal Cord or Medulla Spinalis." Bartleby.com edition of Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body.<http://www.bartleby.com/107/185.html>.

Monique Laberge, Ph.D.