| spinal cord injury | Any injury to the spinal cord via blunt or penetrating trauma. Extreme flexion or extension (particularly in the neck) of the spine can result in traction on the spinal cord with subsequent injury and the development of neurologic symptoms. See: neurologic symptoms. (27 Sep 1997) |
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| spinal cord neoplasms | Neoplasms located in the spinal cord. They include neoplasms in the inner core or the outer layer of the cord, but not those in the protective membranes, or meninges ( = meningeal neoplasms). (12 Dec 1998) |
| spinal cord tumour | A spinal cord tumour is a aggregate if cells that form a mass that can compress the spinal cord. Spinal cord tumours may arise from local structures (for example meninges) or from a cancer from a distant site (i.e. Metastasis). Regardless of the aetiology, all spinal cord tumours cause symptoms from compression on the spinal cord, surrounding nerve roots or blood vessels that supply the cord. Symptoms are variable with the extent and the level of the spinal cord tumour. Common symptoms include back pain that may radiate, numbness and tingling to the lower extremities, muscle weakness in the legs, difficulty walking and loss of bowel and bladder control (incontinence). (27 Sep 1997) |
| spinal curvature | See: kyphosis, lordosis, scoliosis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| spinal curvatures | Deviations of the spine from its normal direction or position. (12 Dec 1998) |
| spinal decompression | The removal of pressure upon the spinal cord as created by a tumour, cyst, haematoma, nucleus pulposus, abscess, or bone. (05 Mar 2000) |
| spinal dysraphism | Developmental abnormalities of the dorsal median region in the embryo, involving ectoderm, mesoderm, and neuroectoderm in varying degrees. Dysraphism signifies incomplete fusion or malformation of a seam or junction. Spinal dysraphism includes all forms of spina bifida. The open form is called spina bifida cystica and the closed form is spina bifida occulta. (12 Dec 1998) |
| spinal fluid | <neurology> A clear, colourless fluid that contains small quantities of glucose and protein. Cerebrospinal fluid fills the ventricles of the brain and the central canal of the spinal cord. Analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid can be accomplished using lumbar puncture. The presence of white blood cells or bacteria within the cerebrospinal fluid can indicate a bacterial infection (meningitis). Acronym: CSF (12 Jan 1998) |
| spinal fractures | Broken bones in the vertebral column. (12 Dec 1998) |
| spinal fusion | A procedure that involves fusing together two or more vertebrae in the spine using either bone grafts or metal rods (Harrington rods). This procedure may be used to correct kyphosis or scoliosis. It is also used in those who require spine stabilisation due to vertebral damage from ruptures discs, fractures, osteomyelitis, osteoarthritis or tumour. (27 Sep 1997) |
| spinal ganglion | <anatomy> Enlargement of the dorsal root of the spinal cord containing cell bodies of afferent spinal neurons. Neural outgrowth from dorsal root ganglia has been studied extensively in vitro. (18 Nov 1997) |
| spinal headache | A headache that can occur after a lumbar puncture is performed. Patients who lie flat on their stomach for one hour immediately after lumbar puncture, followed by 12 hours on their back, have a decreased incidence of spinal headaches. (27 Sep 1997) |
| spinal induction | The manner in which one sensory stimulus lowers the threshold for another. (05 Mar 2000) |
| spinal injuries | Injuries involving the vertebral column. (12 Dec 1998) |
| spinal lemniscus | A large ascending fibre bundle in the ventral half of the lateral funiculus of the spinal cord, arising from cells in the posterior horn at all levels of the cord, which cross within their segments of origin in the white commissure. In their contralateral ascent, the bundle is intermingled with numerous intersegmental fibres. The spinothalamic tract continues from the spinal cord into the brainstem, occupying a ventrolateral position and issuing numerous fibres to the rhombencephalic and mesencephalic reticular formation, to the lateral part of the central gray substance of the mesencephalon, and to the deep and intermediate layers of the superior colliculus; the relatively few fibres (10 to 20%) that remain form the true spinothalamic tract which enters the diencephalon and ends in the nucleus ventralis posterior (caudal part) and intralaminar nuclei of the thalamus. In its ascent in the spinal cord the tract is composed of a dorsal part, the lateral spinothalamic tract, which conveys impulses associated with pain and temperature sensation, and a more ventral part, the anterior spinsothalamic tract, involved in tactile sensation. Synonym: lemniscus spinalis, spinal lemniscus, tractus spinothalamicus. (05 Mar 2000) |