Vital capacity in tetraplegics twenty years and beyond

To observe the trends in vital capacity (VC) over time in tetraplegics 20 years and more after injury, the effects of age at injury, severity of injury and gender on this trend. The medical records of all spinal cord injured persons admitted to a regional spinal injury center from January 1960 to December 1996 were reviewed. Fifty-seven patients had documented post-rehabilitation VC (mean 1.3+/-1.1 years) and VC at 10 (mean 11.8+/-2.69) and 20 (20.60+/-2.67) years post injury and beyond. The mean age at injury was 23.2+/-9.1 years. Severity of injury when classified according the system proposed by Coll et al were: Group 1: C1-4 Frankel A injury: 11.6%, Group 2: C5-8 Frankel A injury: 55.6%, Group 3: C2-8 Frankel B and C: 29.8% and Group 4: C2-8 Frankel D: 3.5% respectively. The mean VC at initial, 10 and 20 years post injury was 2586+/-948, 2803+/-940 and 2525+/-818 cc respectively. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that there was significant difference in VC over a 20 year period, (F(2,54)=8.43, P