Epidemiology of the traumatic spinal cord injury at old age

Study Design. Retrospective analysis, focused on the epidemiology of traumatic spinal cord lesions (SCI) at old persons (over 65 years), admitted in the Rehabilitation Department, during a period extended upon 10 years (1995-2005), continuation of a previous study tradition. Methods. Data - collected and analyzed from441 medical files. Setting. Rehabilitation Clinic, Emergency Hospital “Bagdasar-Arseni” Bucharest. Results. Male's number (355) predominate over the female's (86) (r= 4.12). Most of the cases were from rural regions (74%). Tetraplegics (367 subjects, 83.2%) predominate over the subjects with paraplegia (74 cases, 16.8%). Falls from height dominated the etiology (74.3%), especially falls from the chariot and the trees (also house, ladder, hay). Traffic accidents were responsible as second cause of SCI at old age (19.5%) Associated degenerative pathology (single or multiple factors) favored the incidence of SCI: cardio-cerebral-vascular, chronic alcoholism, rheumatologic, metabolic diseases. Conclusions. Socio-economic problems and associated pathology were responsible for the incidence of SCI at this fragile category of population.