Browsing by Author "Kurpad, Shekar"

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    Association of Pneumonia, Wound Infection, and Sepsis with Clinical Outcomes after Acute Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury.
    (Journal of neurotrauma, 2019-11) Jaja, Blessing NR; Jiang, Fan; Badhiwala, Jetan H; Schär, Ralph; Kurpad, Shekar; Grossman, Robert G; Harrop, James S; Guest, Jim D; Toups, Elizabeth G; Shaffrey, Chris I; Aarabi, Bizhan; Boakye, Max; Fehlings, Michael G; Wilson, Jefferson R
    Pneumonia, wound infections, and sepsis (PWS) are the leading causes of acute mortality after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). However, the impact of PWS on neurological and functional outcomes is largely unknown. The present study analyzed participants from the prospective North American Clinical Trials Network (NACTN) registry and the Surgical Timing in Acute SCI Study (STASCIS) for the association between PWS and functional outcome (assessed as Spinal Cord Independence Measure subscores for respiration and indoor ambulation) at 6 months post-injury. Neurological outcome was analyzed as a secondary end-point. Among 1299 participants studied, 180 (14%) developed PWS during the acute admission. Compared with those without PWS, participants with PWS were mostly male (76% vs. 86%; p = 0.007), or presented with mostly American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) grade A injury (36% vs. 61%; p < 0.001). There were no statistical differences between participants with or without PWS with respect to time from injury to surgery, and administration of steroids. Dominance analysis showed injury level, baseline AIS grade, and subject pre-morbid medical status collectively accounted for 77.7% of the predicted variance of PWS. Regression analysis indicated subjects with PWS demonstrated higher odds for respiratory (odds ratio [OR] 3.91, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.42-10.79) and ambulatory (OR 3.94, 95% CI: 1.50-10.38) support at 6 month follow-up in adjusted analysis. This study has shown an association between PWS occurring during acute admission and poorer functional outcomes following SCI.
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    Demographics, Mechanism of Injury and Outcomes for Acute Upper and Lower Cervical Spinal Cord Injuries - An Analysis of 470 Patients in the Prospective, Multicenter North American Clinical Trials Network (NACTN) Registry.
    (Journal of neurotrauma, 2023-02) Futch, Brittany Grace; Kouam, Romaric Waguia; Ugiliweneza, Beatrice; Harrop, James; Kurpad, Shekar; Foster, Norah; Than, Khoi; Crutcher, Clifford; Goodwin, C Rory; Tator, Charles; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Aarabi, Bizhan; Fehlings, Michael; Neal, Chris J; Guest, James; Abd-El-Barr, Muhammad M
    There is a paucity of data comparing the demographics, mechanism of injury, and outcomes of upper versus lower cervical spinal cord injuries (cSCI). The study objective was to define different clinical manifestations of cSCI. Data were collected prospectively through centers of the North American Clinical Trials Network (NACTN). Data was collected on 470 patients (21% women, mean age 50 years). Cervical vertebral level was analyzed as an ordinal variable to determine a natural demarcation to classify upper versus lower cSCI. For continuous variable analysis, falls were associated with C3 more than C4 vertebral level injuries (60% vs. 42%) (p=0.0126), while motor vehicle accidents (MVA) were associated with C4 more than C3 (40% vs. 29%) (p=0.0962). Motor ISNSCI scores also demonstrated a natural demarcation between C3 and C4, with C3 having higher median ASIA motor scores (40 [4 - 73] vs. 11 [3 - 59], p= 0.0227). There were no differences when comparing C2 to C3 nor C4 to C5. Given the significant differences seen between C3 and C4, but not C2 and C3 nor C4 and C5, upper cSCI was designated as C1-C3, and lower cSCI was designated as C4-C7. Compared to a lower cSCI, patients with an upper cSCI were more likely to have a fall as their mechanism of injury (54% vs. 36%, p= 0.0072). Patients with an ASIA C cSCI were likely to have an upper cervical injury: 23% vs. 11% (p= 0.0226). Additionally, patients with an upper cSCI were more likely to have diabetes prior to injury, 37% vs. 22% respectively (p= 0.0084). Lower cSCI were more likely injured through sports (19% vs. 8%, p= 0.0171) and present with ASIA A (42% vs. 25%, p= 0.0186) neurological grade. Patients with lower cSCI were also significantly more likely to have complications such as shock, pulmonary embolism, and pleural effusion. In conclusion, there appears to be a natural demarcation of injury type between C3 and C4. Upper cSCI (C1-C3) was more associated with falls and diabetes, whereas lower cSCI (C4-C7) was more associated with sports, worse ASIA scores, and more complications. Further research will be needed to understand the mechanistic and biological differences between these two groups and whether different treatments may be appropriate for each of these groups.
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    THE EFFECT OF RILUZOLE ON INTRAMEDULLARY LESION LENGTH AND DTI, RATIONALE AND DESIGN OF RISCIS MRI-SUBSTUDY
    (JOURNAL OF NEUROTRAUMA, 2018-08-01) Aarabi, Bizhan; Fehlings, Michael G; Robertson, Claudia S; Shaffrey, Christopher; Kurpad, Shekar; Ray, Wilson Z
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    Trajectory-Based Classification of Recovery in Sensorimotor Complete Traumatic Cervical Spinal Cord Injury.
    (Neurology, 2021-04) Jaja, Blessing NR; Badhiwala, Jetan; Guest, James; Harrop, James; Shaffrey, Chris; Boakye, Max; Kurpad, Shekar; Grossman, Robert; Toups, Elizabeth; Geisler, Fred; Kwon, Brian; Aarabi, Bizhan; Kotter, Mark; Fehlings, Michael G; Wilson, Jefferson R
    To test the hypothesis that sensorimotor complete traumatic cervical spinal cord injury is a heterogenous clinical entity comprising several subpopulations that follow fundamentally different trajectories of neurologic recovery. We analyzed demographic and injury data from 655 patients who were pooled from 4 prospective longitudinal multicenter studies. Group based trajectory modeling was applied to model neurologic recovery trajectories over the initial 12-months postinjury and to identify predictors of recovery trajectories. Neurologic outcomes included: Upper Extremity Motor Score, Total Motor Scores and AIS grade improvement. The analysis identified 3 distinct trajectories of neurologic recovery. These clinical courses included: (1) Marginal recovery trajectory: characterized by minimal or no improvement in motor strength or change in AIS grade status (remained grade A); (2) Moderate recovery trajectory: characterized by low baseline motor scores that improved approximately 13 points; or AIS conversion of one grade point; (3) Good recovery trajectory: characterized by baseline motor scores in the upper quartile that improved to near maximum values within 3 months of injury. Patients following the moderate or good recovery trajectories were of younger age, had more caudally located injuries, a higher degree of preserved motor and sensory function at baseline examination and exhibited a greater extent of motor and sensory function in the zone of partial preservation. Cervical complete SCI can be classified into one of 3 distinct subpopulations with fundamentally different trajectories of neurologic recovery. This study defines unique clinical phenotypes based on potential for recovery, rather than baseline severity of injury alone. This approach may prove beneficial in clinical prognostication and in the design and interpretation of clinical trials in SCI.