The September online and print issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery is featuring a supplement which focuses on cutting-edge translational research developments in the field of spinal cord injury (SCI). The supplement was developed by AOSpine North America (AOSNA) and the North American Clinical Trials Network (NACTN) for the treatment of SCI.
The supplement includes papers which identify and evaluate different types of SCI, as well as developing therapeutic strategies, including potential drug-based therapies, for dealing with the disabilities that attend the injury. It also includes graded assessments used to define the scope and extent of injury and clinical and imaging predictors of neurological and functional outcomes, complications, and survival after SCI. The supplement also addresses issues surrounding quality of life and cost-effectiveness of surgery in injured patients. In addition, the NACTN describes its goals and progress in the transition of therapeutic strategies from preclinical to clinical settings.
Michael Fehlings, professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto and medical director of the Krembil Neuroscience Centre at the Toronto Western Hospital, Canada, led the editorial of the supplement. Most of the studies were conducted by members of NACTN for the treatment of SCI, a consortium of 10 neurosurgery departments supplemented by a data management centre and a pharmacological centre. The principal investigator for the NACTN is Robert Grossman, chairman, Department of Neurosurgery, The Methodist Hospital, Houston, USA.
Funding for studies described in the supplement was provided by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and the US Department of Defense among other organisations. Sponsors of individual studies are listed with each article.
The NACTN/AOSNA Focus Issue on Spinal Cord Injurysupplement is available online at https://thejns.org/toc/spisup/17/1.
