Abstract #2963

Changes in Cerebellar and Brainstem Tissue Motion in Chiari Malformation Type I Patients Following Posterior Fossa Decompression Surgery

Maggie Eppelheimer¹, Soroush Heidari Pahlavian², Rouzbeh Amini¹, Francis Loth¹, Daniel Barrow³, and John Oshinski⁴

¹Conquer Chiari Research Center, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Akron, Akron, OH, United States, ²Laboratory of FMRI Technology (LOFT), USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ³Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States, ⁴Department of Radiology & Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States

Chiari type I malformation (CMI) patients have altered brain morphology and tissue motion compared to healthy controls. This motion may be the underlying cause of Chiari symptoms, such as occipital headaches. Highly symptomatic patients may be treated with posterior fossa decompression (PFD) surgery to restore cerebrospinal fluid flow and relieve brainstem compression. To quantitatively assess changes in brain tissue motion before and after surgery, we examined brainstem and cerebellar tissue displacement before and after surgery in 10 patients using spiral cine DENSE MRI. We found that tissue displacement in these structures in CMI patients is significantly reduced by PFD surgery.

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