Quadriplegia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ICD-10 | G82.5 | |
|---|---|---|
| ICD-9 | 344.0 | |
| MeSH | C10.597.622.760 | |
Quadriplegia, also known as tetraplegia, is a symptom in which a human experiences paralysis of all four limbs, although not necessarily total paralysis.
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[edit] Causes
It is caused by damage to the brain or to the spinal cord at a high level (e.g. spinal cord injuries secondary to an injury to the cervical spine). The injury causes the victim to lose total or partial use of the arms and legs.
[edit] Terminology
The condition is also termed tetraplegia; both terms mean "paralysis of four limbs", however tetraplegia is becoming the more accepted term for this condition.
Tetraplegia, used commonly in Europe, is the more etymologically correct version since both "tetra" and "plegia" are Greek roots whereas "quadra" is a Latin root.
[edit] Incidence/prevalence
There are about 5000 cervical spinal cord injuries per year in the United States and about 1000 per year in the UK. In 1988, it was estimated that lifetime care of a 27-year-old rendered tetraparetic was about US $1 million and that the total national costs were US $5.6 billion per year.
[edit] Treatment/prognosis
Delayed diagnosis of cervical spine injury has grave consequences for the victim. About one in twenty cervical fractures are missed, and about two-thirds of these patients suffer further spinal cord damage as a result. About 30% of cases of delayed diagnosis of cervical spine injury develop permanent neurological deficits.
In some rare cases, through intensive rehabilitation, slight movement can be regained through "rewiring" neural connections as in the case of late actor Christopher Reeve.[1]
[edit] Famous persons with quadriplegia
The following people have, or had quadriplegia:
- Jesse Billauer - American surfer
- John Callahan - Cartoonist
- Vic Chesnutt - Singer/songwriter
- Chuck Close - American painter
- Darren Drozdov - Professional wrestler, injured in a match with D'Lo Brown
- Brooke Ellison - First quadriplegic to graduate from Harvard University
- Steven Fletcher - Canadian Member of Parliament, paralyzed in an auto accident
- Matt Hampson - England U21 hooker, paralysed in a scrummaging accident.
- Stephen Hawking - Physicist, paralyzed due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Robert Seung-Bok Lee - Chief resident of physical medicine and rehabilitation at John Hopkins Medical Center. One of the two quadriplegic doctors in the nation.
- Curtis Mayfield - Soul singer/songwriter, paralyzed in a stage accident in 1990
- Elena Mukhina - Soviet gymnast and 1978 World AA Champion, paralyzed as a result of an under-rotation in a practice routine
- Teddy Pendergrass - Renowned soul singer, paralyzed in an auto accident in 1982
- Christopher Reeve - Actor, injured in a horse-riding accident
- Ed Roberts - Disability rights activist, first quadriplegic to attend the University of California, Berkeley
- Ramón Sampedro - Spanish fisherman, whose struggle for the right to die was dramatized in the film Mar Adentro
- Sam Schmidt - Indycar racing driver, paralysed in 2000 testing crash
- Darryl Stingley - American football player, paralyzed in a 1978 exhibition game
- Sam Sullivan - Canadian politician, elected mayor of Vancouver in 2005
- Joni Eareckson Tada - Christian author and motivational speaker
- Mike Utley - Former Detroit Lions lineman, injured on a Barry Sanders touchdown run in 1991
- Frank Williams - Formula One team owner, injured in 1986 road accident
- Sheikh Ahmed Yassin - Former leader of Hamas
- Brad Zdanivsky - First quadriplegic rock climber to summit the Stawamus Chief
- Mark Zupan - American wheelchair rugby player, featured in the film Murderball.
