New research toolkit will change the way research on Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (DCM) is conducted

Selecting the right tools for a job is equally important in medicine as in any other field. The AO Spine Knowledge Forum Spinal Cord Injury (KF SCI) has created a toolkit to equip scientists and help make DCM studies robust, comparable, and focused on the most relevant open questions. One of the KF SCI symposia at the GSC in Prague will present the toolkit, focusing on current concepts and future perspectives of DCM.

The symposium will be moderated by Michael Fehlings and Mark Kotter, both long-time key drivers of AO Spine research. They will address areas of unmet needs, best management for patients with asymptomatic spinal cord compression, and principles around surgical decision-making.

According to Benjamin Davies, co-principal investigator of the AO Spine RECODE-DCM study, “the DCM research community is small, fragmented, and lacking diversity. There is little synergy with researchers working in isolation. Collaboration is a cornerstone of scientific progress, but in DCM, researchers seldom collaborate across borders.”

Accelerating degenerative cervical myelopathy research progress and guidelines for SCI

The AO Spine KF SCI identified the need early on, and under the leadership of Michael Fehlings a combined set of Clinical Practice Guidelines for the management of DCM and Acute Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury was published in the Global Spine Journal in 2017. (Guidelines are periodically reviewed, and the updated Guidelines on traumatic SCI will be published later this year. The latest knowledge is also an upcoming GSC symposia title.)

Two years later, the collaborative RECODE-DCM initiative was launched with Myelopathy.org to standardize and synergize researchers' work for faster and more efficient global progress. The newly established minimum dataset, in combination with the top ten priorities and a definition for the index term, can accelerate research findings and improve outcomes that matter most to all stakeholders.

What’s inside the DCM Research Toolkit:

The Top 10 Research Priorities: the most important questions to tackle and what researchers should focus on to address problems that matter most to people living with, treating, or otherwise affected by DCM.
The Minimum Dataset: the data points that will ensure researchers measure consistent data points across the globe. The measurement includes minimum core data elements, core outcome set, and the tools to measure the outcomes without burdening the researchers and patients.
The Index Term and Definition: From the many different terms that have been used to name this condition, the international community selected Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (DCM). A definition of the condition can be registered in international disease classifications.

Selecting the right tools for a job is equally important in medicine as in any other field. The AO Spine Knowledge Forum Spinal Cord Injury (KF SCI) has created a toolkit to equip scientists and help make DCM studies robust, comparable, and focused on the most relevant open questions. One of the KF SCI symposia at the GSC in Prague will present the toolkit, focusing on current concepts and future perspectives of DCM.

The symposium will be moderated by Michael Fehlings and Mark Kotter, both long-time key drivers of AO Spine research. They will address areas of unmet needs, best management for patients with asymptomatic spinal cord compression, and principles around surgical decision-making.

According to Benjamin Davies, co-principal investigator of the AO Spine RECODE-DCM study, “the DCM research community is small, fragmented, and lacking diversity. There is little synergy with researchers working in isolation. Collaboration is a cornerstone of scientific progress, but in DCM, researchers seldom collaborate across borders.”

Accelerating degenerative cervical myelopathy research progress and guidelines for SCI

The AO Spine KF SCI identified the need early on, and under the leadership of Michael Fehlings a combined set of Clinical Practice Guidelines for the management of DCM and Acute Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury was published in the Global Spine Journal in 2017. (Guidelines are periodically reviewed, and the updated Guidelines on traumatic SCI will be published later this year. The latest knowledge is also an upcoming GSC symposia title.)

Two years later, the collaborative RECODE-DCM initiative was launched with Myelopathy.org to standardize and synergize researchers' work for faster and more efficient global progress. The newly established minimum dataset, in combination with the top ten priorities and a definition for the index term, can accelerate research findings and improve outcomes that matter most to all stakeholders.