Explain this please......
"The inferior
cerebellarAcute cerebellar ataxia tonsills extend just below the opisthion-basion line by approx 4mm."
This comment was on my 9 year old son's cervical/brain MRI.
I am a knowledgeable Arnold Chiari patient myself but I am unfamiliar with the opisthion-basion line. The impression was a
normalNormal saline flush brain/cervical MRI but this comment has me concerned because Arnold-Chiari goes unseen by so many.
Thank You Very Much!
Trina Mattingly
Dear Trina:
The opisthion-basion line is an imaginary line drawn from the one side of the foramen magnum to the other using specific landmarks. If the
cerebellarAcute cerebellar ataxia tonsils fall far enough below this line then the diagnosis of Arnold-Chiari I is made. As your son's tonsils did not fall far enough below this line, the MRI was called
normalNormal saline flush. As you probably know, if we did MRIs on everyone, alot of
normalNormal saline flush folks would have an Arnold-Chiari I
malformationImperforate anus
Imperforate anus repair
Pulmonary arteriovenous fistula. I think you need to just follow your son's health clinically and try not to worry about the small depression of the cerebellar tonsils (I know it is easy for me to say). I hope your son does well.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro[P] MD