"Cerebellar tonsils protrude inferiorly with chiari malformation"
"normal flow noted involving the cerebral aqueduct and fourth ventrical, flow-related signal involving the dorsal cervical medullary junction is less robust then ventrally and some what sluggish dorsally"
I assume that means there isn't an actual blockage but just a slow flow in whatever area that is.
"T8-T9 disc protrusion"
"Signal loss is present on the T2 weighted images at L5-S1 indicative of disc degeneration and dehydration."
Nothing about a syrinx which is good! From what I have researched the disc degeneration and dehydration notes could mean the spinal flow isn't great down that far.
Now I send them to Mayfield and wait for their call to see what they suggest. The waiting game stinks, and I wish these reports were more detailed.
Is a Cine MRI needed to diagnose how bad the chiari is? I saw a NS (one who has done many chiari surgeries and has done much research/written articles on the disease) and when I asked him if I needed this he said no. Granted I only have hearing loss and no other symptoms. He said my tonsils are low lying but the crowding does not seem too bad. He would not recommend surgery b/c he said I could end up with issues I didn't have before surgery. He said they do not do surgery to prevent problems as some people will never develop problems that affect their life too much. He said he does surgery only when the issues with chiari disable the person. does this seem like a correct answer? A second opinion would mean going to Colorado or Wisconsin to the large chiari clinics. I did learn that you can't just go to any neurosurgeon.
It is to determine if the chiari is blocking the CSF flow which if it is can cause a lot more issues. I have a lot of other symptoms/issues that I’ve been healing with for years. From the headaches/migraines to hearing loss, leg and arm numbness and severe back pain which makes my back numb and tingly. Along with some others. I have been to one neurologist that at least acknowledged chiari causes issues but I didn’t like him in other aspects and one neurosurgeon that completely dismissed chiari causing any of my symptoms. I have a great primary doctor and asked her to order these last set of MRI’s and I have sent them to the chiari center in Ohio for them to review. I just didnt want to go from doctor to doctor and thankfully I have great insurance so MRI’s are no cost to me at all.
Hopefully I will hear back from the mayfield center in a week or so.
But I wouldn’t say the results of a cine MRI is the primary factor of determining surgery or not… Depends on symptoms and the surgeon.
Why would my ns say he doesn’t let the cine weigh to much into the surgery decision making process that is why I’m asking? I thought that was strange after reading on here that it seems to be a very important factor. Always trying to figure out the brain of a brain surgeon lol