The Effect of Posterior Fossa Decompression Surgery on Brainstem and Cervical Spinal Cord Dimensions in Adults with Chiari Malformation Type 1.

Objective: Posterior fossa decompression (PFD) surgery creates more space at the skull base, reduces the resistance to the cerebrospinal fluid motion, and alters craniocervical biomechanics. In this paper, we retrospectively examined the changes in neural tissue dimensions following PFD surgery on Chiari malformation type 1 adults.

Methods: Measurements were performed on T2-weighted brain magnetic resonance images acquired before and 4 months after surgery.