Evaluation of cervical sagittal parameters on supine magnetic resonance imaging in patients with Chiari I malformation without syringomyelia.

OBJECTIVE

The current study aimed to assess the effects of tonsillar herniation on cervical alignment in Chiari I patients without syringomyelia using new cervical sagittal alignment parameters, such as C0-2 Cobb angle, C2-7 cobb angle, T1 slope, and C2-7 sagittal vertical axis (SVA).

METHODS

Two spinal surgeons independently evaluated midline T2-weighted sagittal magnetic resonance imaging findings of 28 Chiari I patients without syringomyelia and 40 patients without tonsillar herniation but with similar complaints. Thereafter, the measured C0-2 Cobb angle, C2-7 Cobb angle T1 slope, and C2-7 SVA were compared using the t-test.

RESULTS

Differences in the mean values for C2-7 Cobb angle, T1 slope, and C2-7 SVA were found between Chiari I patients and those without tonsillar herniation.

CONCLUSION

The current study showed that Chiari I patients were less lordotic (kyphotic) compared to subjects without tonsillar herniation.