Case
About this case
Operative video: Chiari Malformation. The background notes below summarise the anatomy, pathology and approach, with published references.
Reference notes
Background
Notes on this case’s cranial location, pathology and surgical approach, with published sources. General education only, not advice for any individual patient.
Pathology
Chiari Malformation
Chiari I malformation is caudal descent of the cerebellar tonsils below the foramen magnum (conventionally 5 mm or more on MRI), often with an associated syrinx (syringomyelia). Patients present with occipital “cough” headaches and, when a syrinx is present, with spinal-cord symptoms.
Surgical treatment is posterior-fossa decompression — suboccipital craniectomy and C1 laminectomy, with or without duraplasty — to restore CSF flow at the craniocervical junction.