Classification of spinal cord injury: ASIA classification Vs Frankel classification

Clinicians have long used a clinical scale to grade severity of neurological loss in SCI. First devised at Stokes Manville before World War II and popularized by Frankel in the 1970's, the original scoring approach segregated patients into five categories.

Frankel classification:Grade A:  no function
Grade B: sensory only
Grade C: some sensory and motor preservation
Grade D: useful motor function
Grade E: normal function

ASIA classification:Grade A:  Complete. No motor or sensory function preserved in the sacral segments (S4-S5)
Grade B: Incomplete. Sensory function is preserved but motor function is affected below the neurological level & includes the sacral segments (S4-S5)
Grade C: Incomplete. Motor function is preserved below the neurological level, and more than half of the key muscles below the neurological level have a muscle grade less than 3.
Grade D: Incomplete. Motor function is preserved below the neurological level, and more than half of the key muscles below the neurological level have a muscle more than 3.
Grade E: Normal. Motor & sensory functions are normal.

5-Clinical syndromes in incomplete SCI by ASIA classification:1. Central cord syndrome 2. Brown-Sequard syndrome 3. Anterior cord syndrome 4. Conus medullaris syndrome 5. Cauda equina syndrome
The ASIA committee also classified incomplete spinal cord injuries into five types. A central cord syndrome is associated with greater loss of upper limb function compared to the lower limbs. The Brown-Sequard syndrome results from a hemisection lesion of the spinal cord. Anterior cord syndrome occurs when the injury affects the anterior spinal tracts, including the vestibulospnal tract. Conus medullaris and cauda equina syndromes occur with damage to the conus or spinal roots of the cord.

Advantages of ASIA impairment scale:
1. First, instead of no function below the injury level, ASIA A is defined as a person with no motor or sensory function preserved in the sacral segments S4-S5. This definition is clear and unambiguous.
The new ASIA A categorization turns out to be more predictive of prognosis than the previous definition where the presence of function several segments below the injury site but the absence of function below a given level could be interpreted as an "incomplete" spinal cord injury.
2. ASIA B is essentially identical to Frankel B but adds the requirement of preserved sacral S4-S5 function. It should be noted that ASIA A and B classification depend entirely on a single observation, i.e. the preservation of motor and sensory function of S4-5.
3. The ASIA scale also added quantitative criteria for C and D. The original Frankel scale asked clinicians to evaluate the usefulness of lower limb function. This not only introduced a subjective element to the scale but ignored arm and hand function in patients with cervical spinal cord injury. To get around this problem, ASIA stipulated that a patient would be an ASIA C if more than half of the muscles evaluated had a grade of less than 3/5. If not, the person was assigned to ASIA D.
4. ASIA E is of interest because it implies that somebody can have spinal cord injury without having any neurological deficits at least detectable on a neurological examination of this type. Also, the ASIA motor and sensory scoring may not be sensitive to subtle weakness, presence of spasticity, pain, and certain forms of dyesthesia that could be a result of spinal cord injury. Note that such a person would be categorized as an ASIA E.

These changes in the ASIA scale significantly improved the reliability and consistency of the classification. Although it was more logical, the new definition of "complete" injury does not necessarily mean that it better reflects injury severity.