My neurologist just called me to discuss the MRI I had yesterday afternoon. Apparently, my Chiari measures 1cm, which my doctor said was "certainly significant". He's referring me over to OHSU to a neurosurgeon. Is it just me, or is 1cm pretty big? Seems with something as small as a brain, 1cm variation would be more that "certainly significant". Is it normal to hear that measurement and be a little scared?
Personally, I think any amount of displacement should be significant when it comes to your brain. Mine is 2mm smaller than yours and two doctors tell me it's incidental and of no concern so go figure!
Being scared is normal! Luckily they are taking it seriously! I have a friend who had a 2 cm and she had surgery and did wonderfully! She has very few symptoms now!
That's a relief! The one nice thing my NL said was "Well, with your insurance, you can pretty much go anywhere, but OHSU (Oregon Health Sciences University) is the best. They have a lot of specialists up there that are very good." and that helped a lot too.
Yes, it’s significant. I hear of surgery at much less. 1 cm is 10 mm. I was at almost 3 cm at surgery. I hear of lots of people at 10 mm. with very few symptoms, and people at 4 mm. with lots of symptoms, are you having symptoms? Unfortunately for me, my symptoms didn’t start until a few months before my chiari was found and surgery was done quick because I was literally bedridden. I wish it would have been discovered long ago. I hear that we stop and stay where we are before surgery? Not sure. For me, I’ve not gotten better (yet) hang in there.
I am 5 mm and have symptoms, but from everything I have read 5 mm to 1.5 cm is sort of the average .... don't quote me though :) this is just what I have read.
Dawn is correct...1cm is the same as 10mm. Mine was 18mm, but it doesn't seem like size really matters when it comes to Chiari. It's your symptoms that you need to worry about and if they are actually being caused by the Chiari.
Good luck to you!
Monique