Prevention and Excision of Spinal Cord Scar Following Spinal Cord Injury Results in Motor Function and Spinal Cord Regeneration

Background: This paper shows originality for the treatment of acute spinal cord injuries by the absorption of fibrinogen by the omentum. This paper also shows that the statement by Ramon y Cajal that the reason spinal cords don’t heal is that the scar that routinely occurs at the point of spinal cord injury must be removed in order for axons to progress into the distal spinal cord.

Case Presentation: The patient had a spinal cord injury that was reported by an MRI to have resulted in complete anatomical transection. Years after her injury, her spinal cord scar was removed and the gap in the spinal cord, which measured 4 cm (1.6 inches), was totally removed and the spinal cord defect was filled with collagen. Not only did the patient eventually walk after physiotherapy, confirmed by a video, but of extreme importance, serial MRIs presented in the paper showed that the spinal cord can spontaneously regenerate. I believe this is the first time that the spinal cord has been shown to have the ability to regenerate.

Conclusions: Removal of a spinal cord scar following an SCI can result in motor function in both animals and in a human, as demonstrated in this paper. In addition, it was learned that the spinal cord has the ability to regenerate.