AO Spine Knowledge Forum Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
AO Spine KF SCI at the Global Spine Congress 2019 in Toronto, ON, Canada AOSpine KF SCI seeks to define new treatment approaches to enhance outcomes for both traumatic and non-traumatic spinal cord injury patients. In collaboration with key partners, they:
- lead an international, multi-center, randomized, controlled trial;
- have undertaken a series of systematic reviews and developed guidelines;
- combined a large prospective registry to address crucial clinical questions related to the assessment and management of traumatic SCI.
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The Biological Basis for Disability in DCMInvestigating the biological basis for disability in degenerative cervical myelopathy: can PET-MRI directly quantify myelination in vivo?
Principal investigator:
Benjamin Davies
Co-Principal investigator:
Franklin Aigbirhio, Virginia Newcombe
Goals:
To develop novel molecular imaging approaches to improve the management and research of spinal cord injuries -
Modulation of Inflammatory ResponsesModulation of Inflammatory Responses Using Neural Crest Derived Dental Pulp Stem Cells Following Acute Spinal Cord Injury
Principal investigator:
Ryan O’Hare Doig
Co-Principal investigators:
Brian James, Christopher Freeman, Stan Gronthos
Goals:
Aims to develop a better understanding of the pathophysiological pathways and effects of stem cell distribution, survival and differentiation, following spinal cord injury using advanced imaging and labelling techniques -
RECODE-DCM
AOSpine Research Objectives and Common Data Elements for Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (RECODE-DCM)
Principal investigator:
Mark KotterCo-Principal investigator:
Benjamin DavisGoals:
1. Aims to establish a standardized definition for DCM.
2. Create a list of unanswered DCM research questions, ranked according to priority.
3. Create a standardized set of baseline characteristics and outcomes which should be measured in DCM research.
Study website https://recode-dcm.com/ -
Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Database Merge
Combining data from two existing registries (NACTN and STASCIS)
Principal investigator (PI):
Michael Fehlings
Goals:
To combine two existing databases on patients with spinal cord injuries treated surgically (NACTN and STASCIS) and to assess descriptive data on injury/surgery details, as well as the ASIA score and complications reported -
RISCIS
A multi-center, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded trial of the efficacy and safety of Riluzole in acute spinal cord injury
Principal investigator (PI):
Michael Fehlings
Goals:
Aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Riluzole in the treatment of patients with acute spinal cord injury. The primary objective is to evaluate the superiority of Riluzole, as compared to a placebo, in improving motor outcomes as measured by the ASIA Motor Score at six months follow-up, in patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury, presenting to hospital less than 12 hours after injury.
Note:
Co-sponsored by AO Spine North America, US Department of Defense, Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation, Rick Hansen Institute
Documents:
Publication summary
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01597518
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SCI-DCM Guidelines
Development of evidence-based clinical guidelines for the treatment of acute spinal cord injury (SCI)
Principal investigator:
Michael Fehlings
Goals:
A set of systematic reviews will deliver an understanding of the current state of the field. Based on this knowledge, a global team of clinical experts in SCI will then go through the rigorous process of developing evidence-based clinical guidelines for the treatment of acute spinal cord injury. Injury specific to the five selected topics:- Use of methylprednisolone
- Timing of decompression
- Role and timing of magnetic resonance imaging
- Type and timing of anticoagulation
- Type and timing of rehabilitation
Co-sponsored by AO Spine North America
Documents:
Guidelines Special Issue
Guidelines:
Access the guidelines here
Brian Kwon
Chairperson
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, Canada
Michael Fehlings
Past Chairperson
University of Toronto
Toronto, Canada
Shekar Kurpad
Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, USA
James Harrop
Thomas Jefferson University
Philadelphia, USA
Bizhan Aarabi
University of Maryland
Baltimore, USA
Mark Kotter
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, UK
Vafa Rahimi-Movaghar
Tehran University of Medical Sciences
Tehran, Iran
James Guest
University of Miami
Miami, USA
KF SCI Associate Members
Faiz Ahmad, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
Jonathon Ball, Royal North Shore Hospital, St. Leonards, NSW, Australia
Zsolt Balogh, John Hunter Hospital and University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Nathaniel Brooks, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA
Benjamin Davies, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Paul Koljonen, Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Ahmad Nassr, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
Ryan O’Hare Doig, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Wilson Z. Ray, Department of Neurosurgery, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA
James Schuster, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
Ralph Stanford, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia
Jeff Wilson, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
Knowledge Forum Manager
Olesja Hazenbiller
Research Project Manager
“We are defining critical knowledge gaps that represent areas of research in the future. We’d like to see this lead to changes in clinical practice, improved outcomes, and changes in society with better access to care.”
Michael Fehlings, Past Chairperson KF SCI, Research Commission member