Table 3.
Baseline characteristics and cardiovascular changes: differences between patients with and without AD
| Characteristics | No AD (n = 96) | AD (n = 204) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | |||
| Male vs. female, no. (%) | 88 (92) vs. 8 (8) | 171 (84) vs. 33 (16) | 0.065 |
| Mean (SD) age (years) | 49 (15) | 53 (16) | 0.044 |
| Mean (SD) time after SCI (years) | 10 (10) | 11 (12) | 0.706 |
| Stage of SCIa | |||
| Acute vs. chronic, no. (%) | 20 (21) vs. 76 (79) | 48 (23) vs. 156 (77) | 0.603 |
| Type of plegia | |||
| Tetraplegic vs. paraplegic, no. (%) | 10 (10) vs. 86 (90) | 88 (43) vs. 116 (57) | < 0.001 |
| Completeness of lesion (AIS) | |||
| Complete (AIS A) vs. incomplete (AIS B–D), no. (%) | 41 (43) vs. 55 (57) | 79 (39) vs. 125 (61) | 0.511 |
| Motor complete (AIS A–B) vs. incomplete (AIS C–D), no. (%) | 55 (57) vs. 41 (43) | 115 (56) vs. 89 (44) | 0.881 |
| AIS A, no. (%) | 41 (43) | 79 (39) | |
| AIS B, no. (%) | 14 (15) | 36 (18) | |
| AIS C, no. (%) | 14 (15) | 31 (15) | |
| AIS D, no. (%) | 27 (28) | 58 (28) | |
| Lesion level | |||
| At or above T6 vs. below T6, no. (%) | 27 (28) vs. 69 (72) | 139 (68) vs. 65 (32) | < 0.001 |
| Cervical, no. (%) | 10 (10) | 88 (43) | |
| Thoracic, no. (%) | 72 (75) | 100 (49) | |
| Lumbar (L1–L2), no. (%) | 14 (15) | 16 (8) | |
| Start of UDIb | |||
| Blood pressure | |||
| Mean (SD) systolic (mmHg) | 133 (22) | 124 (23) | 0.001 |
| Mean (SD) diastolic (mmHg) | 79 (15) | 74 (12) | 0.001 |
| Mean (SD) heart rate (bpm) | 74 (15) | 76 (16) | 0.458 |
| Cardiovascular change (Δ) during UDIb | |||
| Blood pressure | |||
| Mean (SD) systolic (mmHg) | 7 (8) | 58 (29) | < 0.001 |
| Mean (SD) diastolic (mmHg) | 5 (6) | 23 (13) | < 0.001 |
| Mean (SD) heart rate (bpm) | 1 (8) | –11 (15) | < 0.001 |
| Presence of NDOb | |||
| Yes vs. No, no. (%) | 70 (73) vs. 26 (27) | 179 (88) vs. 25 (12) | 0.001 |
Statistically significant differences (p<0.05) between patients with and without autonomic dysreflexia are highlighted in bold
All values are presented as mean (SD) or number of patients (%)
aSCI defined as “acute” upon 300 days since injury and “chronic” after 300 days according to the European Multicenter Study about Spinal Cord Injury (EMSCI, www.emsci.org)
bIndicating the worse of two same session UDIs
AD autonomic dysreflexia, AIS American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale, NDO neurogenic detrusor overactivity, SCI spinal cord injury, SD standard deviation, UDI urodynamic investigation