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Updated: Aug 22, 2026

Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging for Assessment of Spinal Cord Blood Flow in Experimental Spinal Cord Injury
Published on: May 7, 2015
Blood volume and hemoglobin after spinal cord injury
S Houtman1, B Oeseburg, M T Hopman
1Department of Physiology, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Objective:
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in total blood volume and hemoglobin mass between spinal cord-injured and able-bodied individuals.
Design:
Total blood volumes of 13 able-bodied and 10 spinal cord-injured individuals (lesion >T4) were determined using the carbon monoxide method. The reproducibility of the total blood volume determination in our setting and the effect of increased physical activity were assessed.
Results:
Comparison of groups showed a significantly higher hemoglobin mass in able-bodied compared with spinal cord-injured individuals. The total blood volume expressed per kilogram of body mass in able-bodied individuals was significantly greater than in spinal cord-injured individuals.
Conclusions:
These results suggest that total blood volume and hemoglobin mass are decreased in spinal cord-injured individuals with a lesion above T4, which may be related to their inactive lifestyle, because total blood volume increased with increased physical activity in these subjects.
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