Determination of the Cerebellar Tonsilar Position and Its Relation with Neurological Symptoms

Background/Objective: Demonstration of cerebellar"ntonsilar position and it's relation with hind brain"ncompression symptoms. Since many clinical symptoms"nof central nerve system (CNS) pathologies could"nhappen in presumably normal people, one of the most"nimportant findings in MRI is the distance and position"nof the cerebellar tonsil from foramen magnum. This"nfinding, if positive, may explain the unclear clinical"nfindings in patients. The distance of between 5 and 10"nmm may be significant, but not symptomatic."nPatients and Methods: This is a trans-sectional study"nin patients with clinically symptomatic hind brain"ncompression (between 2007 and 2009). Sixty patients"n(over 7 years of age) without any accompanying brain"nanomaly were examined. These MRI images were"nobtained in the midsagittal plane in T1-weighted, then"nthe results were compared with clinical symptoms."nResults: The mean age was 39.7±16.2. Twenty-six"ncases were male (43.3%) and 36 cases were female"n(56.7%). The mean of the position of cerebellar tonsil"nwas 3.6±2.5 mm, of which 22 cases were in the normal"nposition (36.5%), 23 cases were borderline (38.3%) and"n15 cases were high risk or lower position (25%). The"nresults demonstrate that the cerebellar tonsilar position"nhas the significant effect on headache, vomiting and"nspeech disorder (p<0.05)."nConclusion: One of the most important findings in"nbrain MRI, which is missed most of the time, is the"ndistance and position of the cerebellar tonsil that could"nbe related to unclear neurological symptoms due to"nhind brain compression."nKeywords: Cerebellar Tonsil, MRI, Hind Brain"nCompression