The association between pediatric Chiari malformation and the development of syringomyelia has been well documented. Scoliosis in the patient with syringomyelia is thought to be secondary to anterior horn cell damage, which innervate the muscles of trunk, by an asymmetrically expanded syrinx. In pediatric patients, the neurologic signs and symptoms due to Chiari malformation and syringomyelia show much lower frequency but the incidence of scoliosis is very high. Thus, the MRI study for the diagnosis of the underlying syringomyelia and Chiari malfornation is essential in pediatric scoliosis patients, which may otherwise be misdiagnosed for idiopathic scoliosis.
We present a case of Chiari type I malformation associated with syringomyelia and scoliosis.
