Nature Communications (Mar 2022)

Spinal cord injury impairs cardiac function due to impaired bulbospinal sympathetic control

  • Mary P. M. Fossey,
  • Shane J. T. Balthazaar,
  • Jordan W. Squair,
  • Alexandra M. Williams,
  • Malihe-Sadat Poormasjedi-Meibod,
  • Tom E. Nightingale,
  • Erin Erskine,
  • Brian Hayes,
  • Mehdi Ahmadian,
  • Garett S. Jackson,
  • Diana V. Hunter,
  • Katharine D. Currie,
  • Teresa S. M. Tsang,
  • Matthias Walter,
  • Jonathan P. Little,
  • Matt S. Ramer,
  • Andrei V. Krassioukov,
  • Christopher R. West

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29066-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 1
pp. 1 – 16

Abstract

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By combining experimental models with prospective clinical studies, the authors show that spinal cord injury causes a rapid reduction in cardiac function that precedes structural changes, and that the loss of descending sympathetic control is the major cause of reduced cardiac function following spinal cord injury.