Authors:
Laura Bellintani de Freitas
1
;
Rafaella Camilo de Oliveira
1
;
Bruna Zuchatti
2
;
Ed Ferrari Junior
1
;
Orcizo Silvestre
1
and
Alberto Cliquet Junior
1
Affiliations:
1
Faculty of Medical Sciences, UNICAMP - State University of Campinas, SP, Brazil
;
2
Faculty of Nursing, UNICAMP - State University of Campinas, SP, Brazil
Keyword(s):
Spinal Cord Injury, Sport, Tetraplegia, Autonomic Dysreflexia.
Abstract:
Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) causes loss of motor, sensory and autonomic functions below the injured level. The increase in the number of cases of SCI, the main cause being motor vehicle accidents, and the social impact that this condition causes makes the study on this condition very relevant. SCI brings physiological changes and physical adaptations to the individual, such as cardiovascular problems and increased blood pressure due to lacking of the sympathetic nervous system, known as autonomic dysreflexia (AD). Topographic observation of the retina can help to understand the change that occurs in the autonomic response of these individuals. The objective of the study was to analyze the vasculature changes in SCI with AD in athletes and non-athletes, through retinal photography of these individuals. Retinal photographs were taken of 40 subjects participating in the research, and these were divided into 4 groups: non-athletes with AD, athletes with AD, SCI without AD, individuals witho
ut SCI. We can conclude that there is a higher prevalence of vascular changes in patients with AD, especially in the athlete group.
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