Spontaneous spinal cord infarctions: a systematic review and pooled analysis protocol

IntroductionSpinal cord infarction (SCInf) is a rare ischaemic event that manifests with acute neurological deficits. It is typically classified as either spontaneous, defined as SCInf without any inciting event, or periprocedural, which typically occur in conjunction with vascular surgery with aortic manipulations. While periprocedural SCInf has recently been the subject of intensified research, especially focusing on the primary prevention of this complication, spontaneous SCInf remains less studied. Methods and analysisElectronic databases, including PubMed, Web of Science and Embase, will be searched using the keywords spinal cord, infarction, ischemia and spontaneous. The search will be set to provide only English studies published from database inception. Editorials, letters and reviews will also be excluded. Reference lists of relevant records will also be searched. Identified studies will be screened for inclusion, by one reviewer in the first step and then three in the next step to decrease the risk of bias. The synthesis will address several topics of interest including epidemiology, presentation, diagnostics, treatment strategies, outcomes and predictors. The review aims to gather the body of evidence to summarise the current knowledge on SCInf. This will lead to a better understanding of the condition, its risk factors, diagnosis and management. Moreover, the review will also provide an understanding of the prognosis of patients with SCInf with respect to neurological function, quality of life and mortality. Finally, this overview of the literature will allow the identification of knowledge gaps to help guide future research efforts. Ethics and disseminationEthics approval was not required for our review as it is based on existing publications. The final manuscript will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.

Automated summary

Spinal cord infarction (SCInf) is a rare ischemic event that causes acute neurological deficits. It can be classified as either spontaneous or periprocedural. While periprocedural SCInf has received more research attention, spontaneous SCInf remains less studied. This review aims to summarize the current knowledge on SCInf in terms of epidemiology, presentation, diagnostics, treatment strategies, outcomes, and predictors.