New era of treatment and evaluation of traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury.

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI) are leading causes of death and disability worldwide (Center for Disease Control, 2006). Both injuries are induced by external traumatic event and likely happen together. After the primary traumatic incident, the secondary injury, including ischemic, inflammatory, metabolic and biochemical cascades, is likely more devastating (Blumbergs, 1997). To date, all clinical trials have failed to cure TBI and SCI, due to the heterogeneous and complex nature of injury pathophysiology (Saatman et al., 2008). There is no single technique that can completely assess the pathophysiological profile of TBI or SCI. Similarly, we cannot expect one single drug to cure this complex phenomenon either. Thus novel approaches are needed for therapeutic development and evaluation. In this special issue, a collection of five succinct reviews summarized the state of the art research from injury detection to novel treatment. This collection also serves as the Proceedings of 2015 Chinese Neurotrauma Scholars Association (CNSA) Symposium held in July, 2014 in San Francisco, CA, USA. The authors are invited speakers at the symposium and also leaders in their respective fields. Instead of giving lengthy systematic reviews, the papers meant to summarize the current cutting edge development and offer meaningful insights of the field to layman readers.