STEREOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF TISSUE PRESERVATION AFTERNEUROPROTECTIVE TREATMENTS FOR TRAUMATIC SPINAL CORDINJURY

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a major cause of permanent disability and its causes and pathophysiological effects are very variables between patients. The assessment of tissue damage extent and neurodegeneration degree correlated with the functional evaluation are the most accepted tools to diagnose and prognose the trauma severity. Animal models of SCI have been used for treatment development and in the present work we evaluate the potency of stereological tools to estimate damage degree for a diagnostic of neural degeneration and locomotor and sensorial disability after SCI and the efficacy of different types of therapeutic strategies.