Dr. Eck received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Catholic University of America in Biomedical Engineering, followed by a Master of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Marquette University. Following this he worked as a research engineer conducting spine biomechanics research. He then attended medical school at University of Health Sciences. He is board eligible in orthopaedic surgery.
Jay W. Marks, MD, is a board-certified internist and gastroenterologist. He graduated from Yale University School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine and gastroenterology at UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The most common cause of spinal cord injury is trauma. Nearly half of the
injuries are caused by motor vehicle accidents. Other types of trauma include:
falls from heights,
violence (stabbing or gunshot wounds to the spine), and
Spinal cord injury can also be caused by compression of the cord by a tumor,
infection, or inflammation. Some patients have a smaller than normal spinal
canal (called spinal stenosis) and are at a higher risk of injury to the spinal
cord.
All tissues in your body including the spinal cord require a good blood
supply to deliver oxygen and other nutrients. Failure of this blood supply to
the spinal cord can cause spinal cord injury. This can be caused by an
aneurysm
(ballooning of a blood vessel), compression of a blood vessel or a
prolonged
drop in blood pressure.
What are the symptoms of spinal cord injury?
The symptoms of spinal cord injury depend on where the spinal cord is injured
and whether or not the injury is complete or incomplete. In incomplete injuries,
patients have some remaining function of their bodies below the level of injury,
while in complete injuries they have no function below the level of injury.
Injuries to the spinal cord can cause
weakness or complete loss of muscle
function and loss of sensation in the body below the level of injury, loss of
control of the bowels and bladder, and loss of normal sexual function. Spinal
cord injuries in the upper neck can cause difficulty breathing and may require
the use of a breathing machine, or ventilator.
Fractures occur when bone cannot withstand the outside forces applied to the bone. Fractures can be open or closed. Types of fractures include: greenstick, spiral, comminuted, transverse, compound, or vertebral compression. Common fractures include: stress fracture, compression fracture, rib fracture, and skull fracture. Treatment depends upon the type of fracture.
Hypothermia is having a body core temperature of less than 35 C or 95 F. Most causes of hypothermia are preventable. Risk factors for hypothermia include age, mental status, medical conditions, and medications. Symptoms of hypothermia generally depend upon the severity of the condition. Treatment depends upon the severity of hypothermia. If not treated early, hypothermia can lead to cardiac arrest, coma, or death.
Stem cells are referred to as undifferentiated cells due to the fact that they have not yet committed to a developmental path to form specific organ tissue. There are a variety of types of stem cells to include embryonic, fetal, adult peripheral blood, umbilical cord, and induced pluripotent stem cells.
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