Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27198185›Full record

ArticleNeurorehabilitation and neural repair2016

Engaging Cervical Spinal Cord Networks to Reenable Volitional Control of Hand Function in Tetraplegic Patients.

Daniel C Lu, V Reggie Edgerton, Morteza Modaber, Nicholas AuYong, Erika Morikawa, Sharon Zdunowski, Melanie E Sarino, Majid Sarrafzadeh, Marc R Nuwer, Roland R Roy and 1 more

2 registry-linked trialsOpen access · bronzeAbstract readCase Reports
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Neurorehabilitation and neural repair, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 81 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
81citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
8.8field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04512690 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

Spinal Cord Stimulation for Restoration of Arm and Hand Function in People With Subcortical Stroke

TypeinterventionalSponsorLee Fisher, PhDRan2021 to 2025Enrolled7ConditionsStroke, Brain Diseases, Central Nervous System Diseases, Nervous System DiseasesArmsEpidural electrical stimulation (EES) of the cervical spinal cord
NCT06437548 nanot yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2024, after this paper: background citation

Spinal Cord Stimulation for Reanimation After Nervous System Injury

TypeinterventionalSponsorBrigham and Women's HospitalRan2024 to 2027Enrolled20ConditionsSpinal Cord Injury Cervical, TetraplegiaArmsPercutaneous spinal cord stimulation
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

81 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 165 citations in OpenAlex.

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  17. Cardiovascular safety of transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation in cervical spinal cord injury.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2025
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21 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Daniel C LuUniversity of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA dclu@mednet.ucla.edu.
V Reggie EdgertonUniversity of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Morteza ModaberUniversity of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Nicholas AuYongUniversity of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Erika MorikawaUniversity of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Sharon ZdunowskiUniversity of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Melanie E SarinoRancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, Downey, CA, USA.
Majid SarrafzadehUniversity of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Marc R NuwerUniversity of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Roland R RoyUniversity of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Yury GerasimenkoUniversity of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA Pavlov Institute of Physiology, St. Petersburg, Russia.
University of California, Los Angeles · USPavlov Institute of Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences · RURancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center · US

Funding

UCLA Clinical and Translational Science InstituteUL1TR000124 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI DUBINETT, STEVEN M. · 2012 to 2015
$57.0M
Enabling forelimb function with agonist drug and epidural stimulation in SCIU01EB015521 · NIBIB · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI EDGERTON, REGGIE, LU, DANIEL · 2013 to 2017
$6.0M
Spinal Epidural Electrode Array to Facilitate Standing and Stepping After SCIR01EB007615 · NIBIB · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI EDGERTON, REGGIE · 2008 to 2013
$4.9M
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR000124NIBIB NIH HHS R01 EB007615NIBIB NIH HHS U01 EB015521
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundParalysis of the upper limbs from spinal cord injury results in an enormous loss of independence in an individual's daily life. Meaningful improvement in hand function is rare after 1 year of tetraparesis. Therapeutic developments that result in even modest gains in hand volitional function will significantly affect the quality of life for patients afflicted with high cervical injury. The ability to neuromodulate the lumbosacral spinal circuitry via epidural stimulation in regaining postural function and volitional control of the legs has been recently shown. A key question is whether a similar neuromodulatory strategy can be used to improve volitional motor control of the upper limbs, that is, performance of motor tasks considered to be less "automatic" than posture and locomotion. In this study, the effects of cervical epidural stimulation on hand function are characterized in subjects with chronic cervical cord injury.

objectiveHerein we show that epidural stimulation can be applied to the chronic injured human cervical spinal cord to promote volitional hand function. METHODS AND

resultsTwo subjects implanted with a cervical epidural electrode array demonstrated improved hand strength (approximately 3-fold) and volitional hand control in the presence of epidural stimulation.

conclusionsThe present data are sufficient to suggest that hand motor function in individuals with chronic tetraplegia can be improved with cervical cord neuromodulation and thus should be comprehensively explored as a possible clinical intervention.

Indexed as

Electric Stimulation TherapyElectromyographyEpidural SpaceEvoked Potentials, MotorFemaleHand StrengthHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleNerve NetQuadriplegiaRecovery of FunctionSeverity of Illness IndexSpinal CordSpinal Cord Injuriescervical spinal cordepidural stimulationhand functionneuromodulationspinal cord injury

Identifiers

PMID27198185
PMCPMC5374120
OpenAlexW2402908812

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.