Treatment of Chiari malformation: who, when and how.

Abstract

There is no effective alternative to surgery in the treatment of the symptomatic cases of chiari malformation. Nonetheless, in literature there is no unanimous consensus about what is the surgical "gold standard" and which are the candidates for surgery. No doubt that intracranial hypertension and ventricular dilatation have to be investigated and treated before considering decompression. It is also very important to keep in mind that a surgery does not guarantee a complete recovery from every symptoms. We report our experience about who are the candidates for surgery, which is the most appropriate surgical technique and when is the correct time for surgery along the natural history of the disease.

• Authors: Alessia Imperato, Vincenzo Seneca, Valentina Cioffi, Giuseppe Colella, Michelangelo Gangemi
• Journal: Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology (Neurol Sci) Vol. 32 Suppl 3 Pg. S335-9 (Dec 2011) ISSN: 1590-3478 [Electronic] Italy
• PMID: 21822700 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Topics

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Arnold-Chiari Malformation (complications, diagnosis, surgery)
• Child
• Decompression, Surgical (methods)
• Female
• Humans
• Longitudinal Studies
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Retrospective Studies
• Syringomyelia (complications, surgery)
• Treatment Outcome
• Young Adult