chiari dura patch leaking

my 20yr old daughter was diagnosed with cm 11/08. she had decompression surgery in december 08.  Surgery was a success. She felt pretty good, however 2 months later, she started feeling fatigued with headaches and just "looked" pale and lethargic.  It was discovered that the fluid was leaking through the patch....a stitch had broken.....she went in again in feb 09 for her surgeon to repair the leak.  Now, here we are in october,09 and have a new "leak". An MRI was done and shows the fluid leaking through and on the wrong side...has anyone else had these issues.....I am  A worried mother wondering if we should seek out a new surgeon or not.  Ours is a highly regarded one in our area and my daughter seems to feel confident in him.....Are these leaks just par for the course?    thankyou for your input.   Worried Mom.

[selmaS]

HI and welcome to the chiari forum.

CSF leaks are possible with this surgery....and can reoccur for numerous reasons. May I ask what type of patch was used...synthetic , bovine, cadaver or ur daughter's own skin?

CSF leaks can resolve themselves...Plenty of fluids mainly H2o....&..caffine and lying flat can help...it all depends on how larger the leak is.

Also, did she have a bloodpatch to resolve the leak the last time or did she have surgery?

"selma"

[blessedmom777]

i believe a synthetic patch was used and she did have surgery to repair the leak, which they are also suggesting again....

[n40066]

was her dr. a chiari specialist?

[selmaS]

Do u know if the leak is a big leak?....did they try the bloodpatch?

I am aware that it depends on the amount of fluid escaping which procedure will work.

U may want to ask, if she is rejecting the patch and that is y she has had the second leak.

Did the dr give u ne info on y they believe this to be her second leak?

"selma"

[selmaS]

...a quick after thought...was she checked for Ehlers-Danlos syndrome?

[blessedmom777]

anyone else have leaking issues months after surgeries?

[blessedmom777]

the pic shown is my daughters most recent mri showing the fluid buildup on the other side of the "patch"

[selmaS]

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/search/257?query=CSF+leak

above is a link to a search of the archives for other threads on CSF leaks......since u r not getting a reply from someone that had a leak, I thought u might want to look at the other threads.

Good luck to u and ur DD

"selma"

[blessedmom777]

thankyou selma for your input....it sure gives me some more questions to ask