Time-Dependent Discrepancies between Assessments of Sensory Function after Incomplete Cervical Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract We recently demonstrated that the electrical perceptual threshold (EPT) examination reveals spared sensory function at lower spinal segments compared with the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) examination in humans with chronic incomplete cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). Here, we investigated whether discrepancies in sensory function detected by both sensory examinations change over time after SCI. Forty-five participants with acute ( 10 years) incomplete cervical SCI and 30 control subjects were tested on dermatomes C2–T4 bilaterally. EPT values were higher in subjects with acute (2.5 ± 0.8 mA), chronic (2.2 ± 0.7 mA), or extended-chronic (2.8 ± 1.1 mA) SCI compared with controls (1.0 ± 0.1 mA). The EPT examination detected sensory impairments in spinal segments above (2.3 ± 0.9) and below (4.2 ± 2.6) the level detected by the ISNCSCI sensory examination in participants with acute and c...