Article: Quadriplegia

Quadriplegia, also known as tetraplegia, is a symptom in which a human experiences paralysis of all four limbs, although not necessarily total paralysis.

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. 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.

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.

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.

Known quadriplegics

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 Accie C. Connor
• Brooke Ellison - First quadriplegic to graduate from Harvard University
• Steven Fletcher - Canadian Member of Parliament, paralyzed in an auto accident
• Stephen Hawking - Physicist, paralyzed due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Curtis Mayfield - Soul singer/songwriter, paralyzed in a stage accident in 1990
• 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
• Frank Williams - Formula One team owner, injured in 1986 road accident
• Sheikh Ahmed Yassin - Leader of Hamas
• Mark Zupan - Captain of the United States wheelchair rugby team which competes in the Paralympic Games.

Support organisations

• Back-Up Trust
• Spinal Cord Injury Peer Support

Related conditions

• hemiplegia
• paraplegia

See also

• clearing the cervical spine