Study Supported By The Helmsley Charitable Trust Reveals Path to Normalize Blood Pressure Following Spinal Cord Injury 

Monday, March 19, 2018

Study Supported By The Helmsley Charitable Trust Reveals Path to Normalize Blood Pressure Following Spinal Cord Injury 

Patients with severe spinal cord injury (SCI) often experience chronically low blood pressure that negatively affects their health, their quality of life and their ability to engage in rehabilitative therapy.

'People with severe spinal cord injury - especially when it occurs in a higher level in the spine - have problems with blood pressure regulation to the point that it becomes the main factor affecting quality of life for them,' said Glenn Hirsch, M.D., professor of cardiology at the University of Louisville (UofL). 'Some cannot even sit up without passing out. They are forced to use medications, compression stockings or abdominal binders to maintain an adequate blood pressure.'

Working with human research participants, Hirsch and researchers at the Kentucky Spinal Cord injury Research Center (KSCIRC) at UofL, have found that spinal cord epidural stimulation can safely and effectively elevate blood pressure in individuals with SCI along with chronic hypotension. The research was reported this month in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (Normalization of Blood Pressure with Spinal Cord Epidural Stimulation After Severe Spinal Cord Injury).

Led by Susan Harkema, Ph.D., associate director of KSCIRC and professor of neurosurgery, the research included four research participants with chronic, motor complete, cervical SCI who suffered from persistent low resting blood pressure. The participants were implanted with an electrode array for epidural stimulation, and individual configurations for stimulation were identified for each participant. During five two-hour sessions, the participants' blood pressure was elevated to normal ranges. Their blood pressure returned to low levels when stimulation ceased, and was again elevated to normal ranges with stimulation.

Stefanie Putnam was one of the research participants. Following a severe spinal cord injury in 2009, Putnam's blood pressure was so low she was unable to engage in the simplest of activities without losing consciousnes...

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