title: Presentation of occult Chiari I malformation following spinal anesthesia.
abstract: Chiari I malformation (CM-I) manifests with tonsillar herniation below foramen magnum. These patients are at high risk of respiratory depression and bulbar dysfunction in the perioperative period with underlying obstructive sleep apnea. However, the safe use of both general and regional anaesthesia has been documented in a known CM-I parturients. We describe the successful management of a patient who had hypercapnic respiratory failure in the post-anaesthetic care unit following an uneventful subarachnoid block for left knee replacement surgery. This patient was retrospectively diagnosed with occult CM-I and moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in the postoperative period.
authors: Department of Anesthesia, Toronto Western Hospital, 399 Bathurst Street, MCL 2-405, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 2S8, Canada.
authors: Saravanan P
authors: SP
authors: Ankichetty
authors: Saleh
authors: S
authors: Khunein
authors: Lashmi
authors: L
authors: Venkatraghavan
keywords: Occult Chiari I malformation; respiratory depression; spinal anaesthesia