We read the article by Hayhurst et al. on ‘Hindbrain decompression for Chiari-syringomyelia complex: an outcome analysis comparing surgical techniques’ with interest. We found the authors conclusions on bone only decompression interesting and worth discussion. The literature on Chiari decompression strongly supports duraplasty in symptomatic patients with Chiari malformation. We previously repo...

Brainstem auditory evoked potentials and clinical findings were examined in 18 children over the age of 5 years who were born with myelomeningocoele which was closed at birth, and whose hydrocephalus was managed by long term shunting in most of them. The potentials were compared with age and sex matched normal subjects and with four patients with hydrocephalus only. All but one had an abnormal ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Upper cervical spinal canal dimension may have a role in abnormal CSF dynamics in patients with Chiari I malformation. We attempted to measure spinal canal tapering from anteroposterior spinal canal dimensions in patients with Chiari I. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-one patients with Chiari I malformation, including 12 with syringomyelia and 7 patients with IS were ident...

The brain and spinal cord were examined with MR imaging in 30 myelomeningocele patients 3-32 years old to study the prevalence of syringohydromyelia and Chiari malformations and to correlate these conditions with developmental scoliosis and spontaneously arrested hydrocephalus. Twelve patients had neurologic deficits above the level of the myelomeningocele and 10 had spontaneously arrested hydr...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Chiari I malformation, characterized by tonsils extending below the foramen magnum, has increased CSF velocities compared with those in healthy subjects. Measuring the effect of tonsillar herniation on CSF flow in humans is confounded by interindividual variation. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of herniated tonsils on flow velocity and pressure dyn...