Mnemonic Series No. 15: SCI and Levels of Spine Nerves

Spinal cord injury causes myelopathy or damage to white matter or myelinated fiber tracts that carry sensation and motor signals to and from the brain. It also damages gray matter in the central part of the spinal, causing segmental losses of interneurons and motoneurons. Spinal cord injury can occur from many causes, including:

• Trauma such as automobile accidents, falls, gunshots, diving accidents, war injuries, etc.

• Tumor such as meningiomas, ependymomas, astrocytomas, and metastatic cancer.

• Ischemia resulting from occlusion of spinal blood vessels, including dissecting aortic aneurisms, emboli, arteriosclerosis. • Developmental disorders, such as spina bifida, meningomyolcoele, and other.

• Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Friedreich's ataxia, spinocerebellar ataxia, etc.

• Demyelinative diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis.

• Transverse myelitis, resulting from spinal cord stroke, inflammation, or other causes.

• Vascular malformations, such as arteriovenous malformation (AVM), dural arteriovenous fistula (AVF), spinal hemangioma, cavernous angioma and aneurysm.

This clue will help you memorized specific symptoms of SPINAL CORD INJURY depending on what level in the spinal cord is affected. At the same time will also help you recall how many cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral normally we have.