Abstract
Thermograms showing heat patterns in the trunk of the body were taken of ten intact subjects, seven subjects with incomplete spinal cord injuries (SCI), and fifteen subjects diagnosed as having complete SCIs. Fourteen of the subjects with complete SCIs had a thermal demarcation line across the trunk. This line represented a temperature gradient of one to 2.5 degrees Celsius between a relatively warm upper level where sensations were normal and a relatively cool lower level in which sensations were either absent or different from pre-injury sensations. The transition zone was narrow and sharp for ten of the complete SCI subjects but was wide and gradual for the other five complete SCI subjects. The shape and width of the thermal transition zone corresponded to the location and degree of abruptness with which sensations changed from normal to abnormal. One of the subjects diagnosed as having a complete SCI failed to show a significant transition zone. The temperature difference between the upper and lower portions of his trunk was less than one degree Celsius. None of the intact or incomplete SCI subjects produced the transition zone. Only one incomplete SCI subject showed even a minimal difference in temperature between the normal sensation and abnormal sensation levels. A panel blind to the subjects' conditions was unable to differentiate between intact and incomplete SCI subjects but was able to sort complete from incomplete SCI subjects in all but the case with an indistinct transition zone.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Guttmann L 1976 Spinal cord injuries—Comprehensive Management and Research. 2nd ed. pp. 314-330. Blackwell Scientific Publishers: Oxford.
Harway R 1986 Precision Thermal imaging of the extremities. Orthopedics 9: 379–382.
Normell L 1974 Recording of normal and impaired cutaneous thermoregulatory vasomotor responses by infra-red thermography: a methodological study. Scandinavian Journal of Clinical Laboratory Investigation 33(138): 3–24.
Sherman R, Barja R, Bruno G 1986 Thermographic correlates of chronic pain: analysis of 125 sequential subjects incorporating evaluations by a blind panel. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, in the press.
Sherman R, Ernst J, Markowski J 1986 Relationships between near surface blood flow and altered sensations among spinal cord injured veterans. American Journal Physical Medicine, in press.
Trieschmann R 1980 Spinal cord injuries: Psychological, social, and vocational adjustment. Pergamon Press, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Portions of this work were presented at the 1986 annual meeting of the American Spinal Injury Association held in San Francisco, California.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sherman, R., Ernst, J. & Markowski, a. Differences between trunk heat patterns shown by complete and incomplete spinal cord injured veterans. Spinal Cord 25, 466–474 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.1987.79
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.1987.79