Most neurologists and neurosurgeons do know about conditions such as:

• Intracranial Hypertension (including cysts/tumors, hydrocephalus, and edema associated with meningitis).
• Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension
• Intracranial Hypotension & CSF Leaks

Far fewer understand conditions such as:

• Cranial Settling / Basilar Invagination (BI)
• Craniocervical Instability (CCI)
• Atlantoaxial Instability (AAI)

However, most of them DO NOT KNOW how they can be pathological to an Acquired Chiari Malformation (CMs), or their relationship to Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS). So, when we ask about “the possibility of comorbid conditions” or “Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes,” we’re usually told that they do not apply to us. Therefore, the sad truth remains that we are being decompressed thinking that we have a (basic) congenital Chiari when there really are a number of complex issues that should be addressed before decompression surgery, and this is resulting in failed decompressions. Far too often as well, the trusting post-operative Chiarian finds these same doctors that they trusted to operate on them, completely dismissive of post-operative symptoms indicate that something else was happening pathologically that wasn’t addressed.

For more information on these pathological cofactors of an Acquired Chiari Malformation:
https://chiaribridges.org/overview-chiari-comorbidities-etiological-pathological-cofactors/