Comparison of posterior cranial fossa morphometric measurements in Chiari type I patients with and without syrinx cavity on magnetic resonance imaging

PURPOSE: To compare the posterior fossa measurements of Chiari type I malformation (CHM1) patients with and without syrinx and with a control group. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The patients with syrinx were divided into 2 groupd according to syrinx width/cord width (S/C) ratios: group 1 – S/C ratio < 50%; group 2 – S/C ratio > 50%. The length of the clivus, the AP length of the foramen magnum, the AP length of the posterior fossa, the perpendicular distance between the McRae line and (a) the splenium of corpus callosum, (b) the pons, and (c) the fastigium of the 160 patients and of the 160 control patients were statistically compared. In addition, the measurements of the patients with and without syrinx, according to the S/C ratio, were statistically compared. RESULTS: Syrinx was present in 59 (36.8 %) of the 160 patients. The S/C ratio was < 50% in 30 (50.9 %) of them, and S/C ratio > 50% in 29 (49.1%) of them. All the measurements in the patient group, except of the AP length of the foramen magnum, were statistically significantly lower than in the control group (p = 0.001). There was no significant difference in the measurements of the patients with syrinx group 1 and the patients without syrinx, but the AP length of posterior fossa was statistically significantly lower in the patients with syrinx group 2 than the patients without syrinx (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: The S/C ratio can be a guide to the underlying aetiology.