Microcirculation of traumatized spinal cord. A correlation of microangiography and blood flow patterns in transitory and permanent paraplegia.

A relationship of microangiography and blood flow patterns in the contused feline spinal cord is reported. In transitory traumatic paraplegia, an injury from which there is a return of function in several weeks, impaired vascular perfusion occurs in the white matter through 1 hour after contusion, then stabilizes and returns to normal by 24 hours. In permanent traumatic paraplegia, an injury from which no sensory or motor function returns, the vascular perfusion of the white matter continues to decrease after 1 hour and returns to normal by 24 hours at which time irreversible damage has occurred to the major sensory and motor tracts. Within the first 30 minutes post-trauma, intramedullary vasospasm is noted. In both the transitory and permanent lesions the gray matter becomes hemorrhagic and has no evidence of perfusion by fluorescent techniques by 1 hour after injury.