Modalities of Surgical Treatment of Chiari Malformation Disease : Clinical Study and Outcomes

Chiari malformation is a group of craniocervical malformations involving the brain stem, cerebellum, upper spinal cord, and surrounding bony structure, encompassing a series of hindbrain herniation symptoms. The Austrian pathologist Hans Chiari first described the malformation in 1891 and such abnormality is frequently identified in both young adult and pediatric patients.

There are four main types of chiari malformations with other subtypes. Chiari I malformation (CIM), in which the caudal poles of the cerebellar tonsils extend into the upper cervical spinal canal, is a common clinical type. Common clinical symptoms, including headache, altered sensation, weakness, dysphagia, sleep apnea.

Between 70% and 80% of patients with CIM have accompanying syringomyelia. Surgical treatment is widely accepted and is the only treatment chosen for symptomatic patients with Chiari malformations.

The aim of this study is to elucidate the most favorable procedures for CIM in terms of radiological and clinical outcomes.

Independent and dependent variables will be identified for analysis. The independent variables will include patient diagnosis, surgical techniques, patient age, patient chronic diseases and identified dependent variables including improvement of symptoms and signs, rates of intraoperative and postoperative adverse events, and perioperative mortality.

Different surgical modalities will be applied ,examples include bony decompression with or without duraplasty with the possibility of cerebellar tonsils resection (RT) .

Common complications include meningitis, CSF leak, pseudomeningocele, hydrocephalus, respiratory failure, hemorrhage, craniocervical instability, and/or death.

The outcome will be measured by reduction / increase of symptoms and signs using the Chicago Chiari outcome scale (CCOS).