Turkish Neurosurgery 2011 , Vol 21 , Num 2
A New Entity: Chiari Zero Malformation and Its Surgical Method
Nejat ISIK1, Ilhan ELMACI1, Mustafa KAKSI1, Bekir GOKBEN1, Nihal ISIK2, Melek CELIK3
1M.H. Goztepe Education and Research Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey
2M.H. Goztepe Education and Research Hospital, Department of Neurology, Istanbul, Turkey
3M.H. Goztepe Education and Research Hospital, Department of Anaesthesiology and Reanimation, Istanbul, Turkey
DOI : 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.2705-09.1 Recently, Iskandar et al described “Chiari Zero malformation” to characterize some kind of syringomyelia that exhibits classic Chiari-type symptoms with little to no herniation, but there is some dilemma about whether it is actually present. We presented a 38-year-old-man with a diagnosis of cervical syringomyelia. In his neurological examination, there was monoparesia at the left leg together with hypoesthesia below thoracal 7. He had initially been treated with syringopleural shunting successfully. Nine months after surgery, his syringomyelia had regrown and he clinically deteriorated. It was accepted as “a Chiari zero malformation”. We performed craniovertebral decompression only. Although there was no tonsillar herniation, his syringomyelia was completely resolved and his neurological status was improved six months after the craniovertebral decompression, This case suggested that “Chiari zero malformation” description is remarkable and craniovertebral decompression is a suitable surgical approach for this entity. Keywords : Chiari type 1 malformation, Chiari zero malformation, Chiari-like malformation, Craniovertebral decompression, Syringomyelia, Syringopleural shunt
Corresponding author : Nejat Isık, nejatisik@yahoo.com