Chiari herniation 9mm to 6mm in a month, anyone experience this??

[Luvmydaughter]

My daughter (22 years of age) was recently diagnosed with Chiari after 4 years of pain and chronic the last 6 months (bedridden atleast twice a week). She had an MRI last month which showed a 9mm herniation and csf crowding. She had her first appointment with the NS a couple of weeks ago whom said she is definitely a candidate for surgery, he scheduled her for a full spine and Cine MRI to check for syrinx etc before he does the surgery. That MRI came back with no csf crowding and a 6mm herniation, now NS is talking about not doing surgery and we don't seem to have any answers? Anyone else heard a Chiari changing like this in such a short time???

[selmaS]

  So you had a MRI of all areas of your spine, cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine in addition to your brain MRI? ANd the only MRI you have not had is the CINE?

If your herniation is due to a trauma, it is possible it will retract....so do try to continue to work on the whip lash....as it can help with the pain you are having....if your Chiari does not retract you will want to find a Dr that will do more testing.

[caszam]

Hi Selma! thanks for your answer i know there is a great specialist in chiari in Barcelona dr Juan Sahuquillo but he s in public system ( only for Barcelona habitants) and i live in madrid, i dont have cine mri because my doctor said it s not necessary but i would prefer to have it to be sure..i think i ll pay for that. on the other hand, i did a completed resonance and there is nothing, no synrix i mean. only found 5,5 mm ectopia and they said my symtoms came from a whiplash and not from the chiari, as i said before i ve got to be much better when i solve my whiplash problem with hydro theraphy and giving up fysio therapy.

[selmaS]

  Hi and welcome to the Chiari forum,

You do have a Center for Chiari is Barcelona.....you may want to try there to see if the specialists agree or disagree with your DX and lack of treatment for it.....

May I ask, have you had MRI's of your spine?..A CINE MRI?...

[caszam]

Hi i am Patricia from Spain, first of all sorry for my English and thanks for your page, it s very good to have people like you in this world. i have 5,5 mm tonsillar ectopia in one of my tonsils,but the neurosurgeon said it s nothing doesn't matter because i don' t have headaches he saw the resonance and said there is no compression but not more test... i only had arm pain, back pain and weakness in my arms, also anxiety because of my symtoms... i had another resonance and i had 7,5 mm is it possible? i have got much better since i practise hydro theraphy and no massages with fisio therapy i got dizzines when i took massages and my doctor forbiden me.

[selmaS]

  Hi and welcome to the Chiari forum.

It is possible to get different measurements due to slices and angles the MRI's are done at...if they are not the same and done on the same machine /magnification some differences will be noted.

For example....if you imagine the area on the MRI as an upside down pear....slice it into 3rds....if you look at the left or right slice they may be similar in size, but the middle section may appear to be much larger so, if the middle is looked at first and then the next time they look to the aft or right it can appear to have shrunk....and the same goes if they look to the left or right first then the middle it can appear to have grown!

  Another possibility is, if her herniation was due to an injury and this is acquired Chiari and not congenital? Acquired chiari can in fact retract....not sure what the time frame is...but it can also continue to be an issue so many times surgery is an option for A.Chiari.

Keep us posted on what you find out.

And please make sure they rule out ALL related conditions before doing any surgery.

[thrice3]

I've never heard of a herniation shrinking. Maybe someone else here has.

I would seriously consider seeing another NS to get a second opinion. Don't put all of your eggs (brains) in one basket. If your daughter has been miserable for 4 years, it very likely isn't going to suddenly go away. Some chiarians have very small visible herniations, but experience severe symptoms.

I'm sure this is a very frustrating and confusing situation. You and your daughter need to be able to completely trust her NS.

[Luvmydaughter]

Yes, the NS actually showed us the 2 different MRIs and it's quite visible the difference between them. The NS comes highly recommended here in Australia, he himself is seeking the opinion from another NS because it's baffling to him as well.