Arnold Chiari Malformation

Arnold Chiari Malformation
Not very many people have heard of Arnold Chiari Malformation. I never had until my first clinical experience. The Mosby’s Medical, Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary, 5th Edition, defines this disease as “a congenital herniation of the brainstem and lower cerebellum through the cervical vertebral canal”. It could be put in this way as well, “a condition in which the cerebellar tonsils ‘slip’ into the space where the spinal cord travels into the skull”. This is a very rare found disease although many people do actually have it but never suffer from any symptoms. My own personal definition would be that Arnold Chiari is when the back of the brain, or cerebellum, falls into the hole at the bottom of the skull, or the foramen magnum. This disease is characterized by decreased cerebral spinal fluid flow because the cerebellum is being squeezed and sort of “cutting off the circulation to the brain.
There are four types of Chiari malf...