Histological findings in cerebellar tonsils of patients with Chiari type I malformation.
OBJECTIVE
Cerebellar tonsillectomy is often performed for relief of symptoms associated with Chiari type I malformation (CMI). Nonetheless, the idea of removing supposedly healthy central nervous tissue has been a source of concern for neurosurgeons. The aim of this paper is to determine the histological changes in the cerebellar tonsils of patients with a wide range of symptoms and conditions related to CMI.


METHODS
The cerebellar tonsils of 43 pediatric patients with CMI were sent to pathology for histological examination.


CONCLUSIONS
The cerebellar tonsils in a great majority of CMI patients can be abnormal. We suggest that the reported histological findings are secondary to injury and ischemia.
Pueyrredon
Francisco
F
Division of Neurosurgery, Pediatric Neurosurgery, David Geffen UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7039, USA.
Spaho
Natalia
N
Arroyave
Ivonne
I
Vinters
Harry
H
Lazareff
Jorge
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001139:Arnold-Chiari Malformation / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D002526:Cerebellar Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006652:Histological Techniques / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male