decompression of 16 year old....

[innie6]

My daughter  who is 16 just had a foramen magnum decompression surgery......after one and a half months we were told to come back with her M.R.I result to see if the syrinx that was from her c2 to c6 had dissapated or not?But when we saw the Doc we were told that it had extended to c 7...Is this a cause of concern...Has this happened to anyone before? and does the syrinx become less over a period of time as the doc has asked us to tke an M.R.I  after 6 months again to see how things are.......please do guide me as we need to have my daughters scoliosis surgery done and the doc says that that can only happen once the syrin goes away.................Is it common for the syrinx to grow and rhen lesson after the decompression....no duro plasty was done as the doc didnt feel it was required ...only the decompression was done....waiting to hear from you.....ambareen

[selmaS]

  It is different for every one....If her Dr did a bony decompression, without opening the dura it is possible there is still an obstruction of CSF flow and could be y the syrinx has grown....

I am not a Dr, so I can not advise u, as a patient with these issues I would want to know more b4 6 months....not sure who u went to but mayb take the recent and prior MRI's to a diff Dr well experienced with Chiari to get another opinion.

[innie6]

Thanks for answereing....No she does not have the tethered cord condition...just scoliosis......7o degree......thats why the syrinx needs to be removed.....again do you think the results start showing right sfter the surgery or doe it take time to show on an M.R,I? Any reason for the syrinx to grow to c7 from c6? Or is it really not a cause of great concern???????Please help me understand this whole thing as my daughter also is a patient of Osteogenesis imperfeca and ha s undergone 15 surgeries already of both her femurs.....we are feeling so helpless and upset.............d doc says to wit for 6 months or another M.R.I? What do you say????????

[selmaS]

  Hi and welcome to the Chiari forum.

As I understand a decompression is done to restore CSF flow, when obstructed it can cause a syrinx to form...once restored the syrinx is hoped to shrink, it is not always the case.

Also if she did not have the full decompression with a dura plasty she may still have an obstruction to flow and y it got larger....

Have u had an opinion from neone other then the NS that did the surgery?

And was she checked for related conditions like tethered cord which can cause scoliosis to begin with?

Some  Drs like to be less invasive and say this is to prevent a CSF leak, it could also mean they are not well experienced with Chiari and all the related conditions,....so do look into this a bit more.