An innovative system that allows stabilize blood pressure in people with medullary lesions It is transforming the quality of life of patients. The advance arises from an international clinical trial carried out by teams of the Calgary Universitythe Lausanian Polytechnic School (EPFL), LAUSANA UNIVERSITY (UNIL) and various medical centers in the Netherlands.
One of the patients benefited by this procedure is Cody Krebswho in 2022 He suffered a car accident that caused a severe spinal injury and forced him to depend on a wheelchair. Since then, his brain lost the ability to regular Blood pressure, which exposed it so much to abrupt decreases in pressure, with risk of fainting, as well as dangerous peaks that could trigger an infarction or a stroke, as explained by the authors of the study.
“Before the accident, I had no idea how volatile the blood pressure can be. Just moving from bed to the chair almost left me unconscious sometimes, when my pressure lowered me. At other times of the day, my blood pressure rose due to intense nervous pain, which made me sweat and suffer intense migraines, ”he said Krebs according to statements collected by the University of Calgary.
The details of the study
The investigation was published in Nature and Nature Medicine and was headed by doctors Aaron Phillipsof the Calgary University; he Grégoire Courtineof the EPFL; and Jocelyne Blochof the Unil.
In total, 14 patients from three medical centers of Canada, Swiss and the Netherlands They received an innovative implantable system in the spinal cord. The device consists of a new generation of electrode matrices connected to an impulse generator, similar to a pacemaker.
This implant offers personalized electrical stimulation, adapted to the needs of each patientand can be controlled from an application. Its purpose is to achieve a neuromodulation It requires that blood pressure restores to functional levels quickly and safely.
Phillips He explained the relevance of the findings: “Our mechanistic discoveries in Nature were crucial to close the gap between the fundamental neuronal mapping and the clinical application. This synergy is what allowed us to advance so quickly from the theory to therapy.”
The study published in Nature Medicine also showed that Hypotension derived from a spinal cord lesion entails high -gravity medical consequencesand demonstrated that neuromodulation therapy can effectively apply in different clinical environments and countries, even under diverse medical protocols. According to the researchers, The sustained use of this technique not only allows to control low blood pressure, but also avoid potentially mortal peaks
In that line, Courtine He explained: “We also demonstrate that the stimulation of the spinal cord can compete with this neuronal architecture to regulate blood pressure safely and precisely,” and stressed that research allowed to identify the neuronal cord network in charge of uncontrolled pressure increasesknown as Autonomous dysreflexia.
While care in medullary lesions usually focuses on recovering mobility, most patients suffer Chronic hypotensiona condition that causes fatigue, cognitive impairment, fainting and raises the risk of long -term cardiovascular diseases.
The results were consistent in all the centers that participated in the trial: once activated, the system managed to restore blood pressure to functional levels in just a few minutes.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
