Williams AM, et al. - Researchers studied the effect of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) on echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular (LV) structure and function in this systematic review and meta-analysis. They searched MEDLINE and Embase databases for studies reporting LV echocardiographic data in individuals with SCI. A total of 36 relevant articles were retried, and data from 27 studies were extracted for meta-analysis; data from 22 articles involving 474 participants were included in the primary analysis. Findings revealed that individuals with SCI had smaller LV volumes and mass, and altered systolic and diastolic function. The investigators suggested that future work should study the effects of SCI on the heart’s ability to respond to physiological challenges.