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The Chiari Malformations pp 301–311Cite as

Electrophysiological Diagnostics in Chiari Malformation

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Abstract

Up to 60% of patients with Chiari type 1 malformation harbor a cervical syringomyelia and a centromedullary syndrome with dissociated pain and thermal sensory impairment, followed by segmental weakness, atrophy, upper motor neuron syndrome, and autonomic dysfunctions due to distension of descending pathways. Comprehensive electrophysiological diagnostics with somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs), motor evoked potentials (MEPs), and silent periods help distinguishing between incidental hydromyelia and developing syringomyelia and can provide quantitative parameters for surgical indication in Chiari malformation. Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IOM) can prevent neurological deterioration during positioning and due to microsurgical manipulation for surgeons or institutions with less experience in treating this pathology, in complex or re-exploration cases with scarred medullary junctions or cranio-cervical junction instabilities, and determine the extent of suboccipital decompression.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Florian Roser & Luigi Rigante

  2. Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Florian Roser & Luigi Rigante

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, BW, Germany

    Marina Liebsch

Authors
  1. Florian Roser
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  2. Marina Liebsch
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  3. Luigi Rigante
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Florian Roser .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    R. Shane Tubbs

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Aydın Adnan Menderes University School of Medicine, Efeler, Aydın, Turkey

    Mehmet Turgut

  3. Departments of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA

    W. Jerry Oakes

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Roser, F., Liebsch, M., Rigante, L. (2020). Electrophysiological Diagnostics in Chiari Malformation. In: Tubbs, R., Turgut, M., Oakes, W. (eds) The Chiari Malformations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44862-2_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44862-2_24

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