Function of Cerebellar Tonsils

[mama2twobabies]

Out of curiosity, what is the function of the cerebellar tonsils? I can't find their exact function. I can find the cerebellum's function of controlling balance, spacial & fine motor functions. Are the cerebellar tonsils related to the functions of the cerebellum only, or do they have their own specific functions? Just wondering what these things that are causing all of these problems with me actually do in my brain!

[ThePeachy1]

Yeah good question I have wondered that also, I was floored out of my gourd when I saw a you tube video by a young girl ( around 17)  It's her story, and she said they ended up cutting off part of her a portion of her cerebellar tonsils, then she showed a statistic that said only 30% of doctors would do that because their goal is to keep brain matter intact.  Then I saw only 1 other place ( granted I have only been researching and in the Chiari world 3 weeks), it was a description of the surgical procedure and outlined for doctors and it said, if needed cautorize or shorten the cerebellar tonsils. I am like ACK !!!!!!!  is this normal?  is this protical?  is this OK?  so excellant question. can't wait for shane and selma and dawn to fill us in, they always seem to know stuff so easy.

[Dawn1214]

I really don't know.... Yes I have heard of them shortening them and if I am not mistaken Selma said something about them cautorizing hers. I am sure they will let us all know if there is a specific function or not.

sorry I couldn't be of more help...

Dawn

[selmaS]

HI all....I am not aware there is a function per se ....the tonsils are part of the cerebellum that is forced down and out of it's intended location.

and yes, mine was cortorized to help shrink them......the tonsil on my left was longer and severely compressed.....neway that is what I remember the dr saying while I was under the influence.....at my next visit if this question is still unanswered, I will ask my dr directly.

"selma"

[selmaS]

The cerebellar tonsil (amygdaline nucleus) is a rounded mass, situated in the hemispheres of the cerebellum.

Chiari malformation is a congenital anomaly of the brain in which the cerebellar tonsils are elongated and pushed down through the opening of the base of the skull (see foramen magnum), blocking the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

Does this help at all...to me they r just part of our cerebellum.....and get elongated and long when the space is too small.....

"selma"

[dpulum]

My sister had the surgery in 2000 and they cautorized her cerebellar tonsils, that is honestly part of what frightens me about my diagnosis.  Immediately after her surgery, she developed severe phobias and was suicidal, none of which had been issues prior to the surgery, I always wondered about the cauterizing and whether that was an okay thing or not, clearly there was some kind of problem with what happened to her brain during the process, it took about a year before her memory was close to normal again and before she started functioning normally.

[Shane99]

The Cerbellar Tonsils (amygdaline nucleus) primarilly deal with storing and forming emotional responses. And have a connection to the sense of smell.

This is why smell is such a strong reminder of the past - like when you smell an apple pie and suddenly remember Grandma.

Dpulum, normally cutting part of the tonsil isn't dangerous, but there are correlations between amygdaline nucleus and neuropsychological activity. Does your sister having regular check-ups with her neurologist and/or a psychiatrist?

[helpmom1945]

I noticed that Selma has helped a lot of people with this Chiari thing.  Maybe there is some help for my mom too.  My mom had a menegeoma brain tumor removed about 10 years ago.   She was better after the tumor was removed.  She could function for longer periods of time without having to rest.  Over the past 10 years she has been able to enjoy life with her family and grandkids for about 4 or 5 days and then she would have to take a few days to recover.  The downtime was caused by the indentations in her skull where the bone flap was replaced would start to sink in.  This would cause severe pressure and pain in her head.  She has also described it as numbness or like when your fingers are frozen and then start to thaw, that's the feeling in her head.  She decided that she could live with this because at least she had 4 or 5 good days, then she would have to sleep for a couple of days while the indentations would rise again and then she could go through the cycle again.  Lately, it has gotten to the point when the indentations will not rise again.  She has also started to lose the vision in her right eye.  She describes it as foggy.  The neurosugeon suggested that she go to a pain clinic and have an anesethesologist inject a nerve block around the indentations.  Still waiting for them to call with an appt.  He also suggested that she see an eye doctor.  I have never heard of Chiari until I got on this site but it sounds similiar to what she is going through.  Any thougths?
Laura

[selmaS]

HI Laura...ur mom is very lucky to have such a thoughtful daughter to advocate for her...

It sounds like maybe the settling of the area that was operated on may have some movement....I also wonder if she has developed inter-cranial hypertension....too much CSF...that would explain the indentations expanding.....and now that it is not expanding, I wonder if she now has too little CSF??This would explain the eye issues too!

Have they done a brain MRI recently?.....it is not uncommon for chiarians to develop the CSF issues after surgery and I wonder if it is the same for a tumor.

Have her push for a MRI if she has not had one recently to see what is going on. I agree some of her issues do sound very similar to chiari, but get the MRI's to see what is going on.

I hope this is helpful
Please keep us posted on ur non's progress : )
"selma"

[LisaM46]

The first time I heard about "shrinking" the cerebellar tonsils, I thought it had to be an error in reporting of a story.  But the more research I do, the more I see references to "shrinking" the tonsils.  Does "shrinking" mean "cauterizing"?  And some doctors have actually cut them off?  I'm so confused.

Well, to be quite honest, when I was diagnosed, and my report said my tonsils descended 11mm into my spinal cord, and so I asked the doctor if they couldn't remove my tonsils.  I didn't know there was another set of tonsils in my head!!!  I'm sure the Dr. had a giggle over it with his colleagues later :)

Lisa

[helpmom1945]

Thank you for your quick response, Selma.  My mom received the results of her MRI/MRA scan two weeks ago.  It showed no changes.  The neurosurgeon said everything looks normal.  The brain tumor has not returned.  She also has an anyersm behind her right ear.  It has not grown since the last MRI/MRA scan and does not require surgery.  The neurosurgeon said that he could replace the bone flap and add a filler so that the indentations would not sink in and press on a nerve but it was very risky because of her medical history of stroke and the anyersm.  He said that should be the last resort.  We are still waiting on a call from the pain clinic to schedule the appt for the nerve block.  The nerve block should take away the pain which is great but I was concerned that it would only mask the problem.  He said that because the MRI/MRA was fine that there is nothing to worry about.  As I was reading about Chiari I noticed that sometimes it can be related to a tethered cord.  She does have a sacral dimple.  The doctors are not aware of this.  After reading all about this I thought that may be something that they need to know.  My son was born with a tethered cord and had a sacral dimple.  He went the the surgery to release the cord.  Hopefully he will not have any problems in the future.  He has also had a stroke.  All of it sounds related.  Have you ever heard of a nerve block as a form of treatment?

Laura

[*Stormy*]

Hello Laura..

I'm so sorry to hear about the struggle your mom is having...the cycle of 5 days of energy and then a few days of bed rest, sound so familiar to me.

I just wanted to add that I too have a sacral dimple as well as my youngest son. I was told that both of ours are a normal variant...things they do look for are patches of hair, birthmarks near it or if there is a pinhole or if the dimple isn't completely closed over. I'm sure you know all this already b/c of you son...but just in case!

That is too weird that your son had TC and your mom has the issues that she does. I'm sure Selma can tell you if this kind of thing is hereditary but to me that is a big coincidence! I think that gives you more than enough reasons to bring that up to your mother's Dr.

It has been mentioned to me about getting a nerve block in my spine to help with the pain. However, after I looked into it and realized that they stick a needle in your spine and release some anesthetic to numb the nerves..it had me a little scared. I have had 3 C-sections and so have had 3 spinal blocks already and I did not enjoy it. Plus, I am concerned that having those spinal taps may have increased my Chiari issues. So my advice would be to make sure there is nothing else going on b4 she takes that route.

I really wish your mom good luck on finding some answers!! She is extremely lucky to have such a wonderful daughter like yourself.

Take care
Carolyn

[nayemack]

I had my second decompression in dec 2009 and during this procedure the dr (same one who did first in 2002) shrunk my descending tonsils. Was concerned when I woke up from surgery unable to use left side of body and severe pain difficulty in walking and slurred speech. Was told would get better in 10days. Well 9mos later and still have walking problems after pain mgment and physical therapy, pyhco therapy, pain meds, mri's (3), EMT dopplers and still no dx! I need help! Can't work!single Mom of five! 28yrs of chiari pain and now this! Anyone heard of this side effect! Nayemack

[taylapj]

The cerebellum (Latin for little brain) is a region of the brain that plays an important role in motor control. It is also involved in some cognitive functions such as attention and language, and probably in some emotional functions such as regulating fear and pleasure responses,[1] but it is its function in movement that is most clearly understood. The cerebellum does not initiate movement, but it contributes to coordination, precision, and accurate timing. It receives input from sensory systems and from other parts of the brain and spinal cord, and integrates these inputs to fine tune motor activity.[2] Because of this fine-tuning function, damage to the cerebellum does not cause paralysis, but instead produces disorders in fine movement, equilibrium, posture, and motor learning.[2]

[LisaM46]

With your definition of the cerebellum in mind... do the tonsils actually have a hand in these functions?  Or are they just famous by association?

;)

I asked my NS yesterday about the purpose of the tonsils, and he said something like - they do not have a purpose that we know of (not direct quote, of course, courtesy of my memory).  In my scheduled surgery, having them cauterized, or shrunk, is part of the plan...  Kinda creeps me out - but the whole Chiari thing is rather crazy as it is!  It makes me think of using a cattle prod to get those cattle back into the barn where they belong!  (odd, I know... can't help it.)

Lisa

[Stephiec79]

I love all the references to Chiari memory! I always just thought that maybe I had ADD or something because my memory is horrible!!! And just getting worse!!! I love how everyone here just laughs it off!!!

Lisa- love the cattle prod reference : )

[Matts_momma31]

I was in a car accident in September. I recently was sent for an MRI of the cervical spine w/out contrast.
This is what the report said, but my chiropractor wants me to see my MD because he really didnt understand it enough to explain it to me, I am flipping out of my mind..

This is what it said.
"There is an approximately 5 mm downward herniation of the cerebellar tonsil in themidline with breaking of the cerebellar tonsil. This is within normal limits, however, the breaking of the cerebellar tonsil is slightly worrisome. The best visualized in sagital t1-weighted imaging sequence."

I have to wait til tomorrow to get answers and I just cant wait...Im worried

[selmaS]

  Hi and welcome to the Chiari forum.

  I wish I knew what ur radiologist meant by the "breaking of the cerebellar tonsil" it is hard to know since this is their opinion and their verbiage...there is not set way for them to make remarks on the reports...most NS do not read the report and make their own minds up after viewing the MRI itself....

  Ur downward displacement of ur cerebral tonsils may be the result of the MVA so it is possible it is an acquired...and not congenital condition....ur dr will be able to give u more info 2morrow, I know u can not wait...but it is best to try to relax and see what ur dr thinks is going on.

  "selma"

[karalee85]

When i saw my NS last month, he described the tonsills like the "appendix of the brain" it had a function hundreds of years ago when we were winging on trees, living in caved andkilling our own foods. .. i hope this description helps some of you who are freaked about the cauterizing of the tonsills.. cause his explination sure set my mind at ease with the procedure

[selmaS]

  well that is a first...thanks for that add to what the function of the tonsils really is.....

[justamess]

Wow. So I am just reading on this now.. and well I would like to share my symptoms to see what all of you think. I am 42 yrs old and as far as I can remember things just never were right with me. It’s always something.. but I never get a diagnose when I go in. Lately it has gotten worse and I start to cry trying to deal with all of it. Where to start.. well over the last month I started getting pain in my ears and in my teeth. The teeth in question have crowns. I really don’t remember which started first or if it was all the same time. At the same time I was having this coming and going nauseous feeling. I was told it was Vertigo.. It’s not a stomach upset feeling .. Its more related to movement or just turning of my head to fast or too far. I now turn my whole body to back out of the drive way. Then it turned to a more constant pain and spurts of relief. Now the nausea feelings are accompanied with vision disturbance. My right eye is twitching like mad I mean 2x every hour. This was for a week and then on Sunday of last week I woke up with the worse pain in my head ever. It wasn’t like a headache.. just a severe pain and I wasn’t sensitive to light or sound so this rules out a migraine.
Then on Tues I started having pain in my right calf. Wednesday I started feeling a tingling in arms and thigh areas. My leg hurts worse if I bend it. My ears are in severe pain that radiated to my teeth.
I had a PE (blood clot in the lung) in 2004. So when I started getting a stiff back that was the line. I went to ER last night they concentrated on the leg/ultrasound and lung/ct scan but they didn’t not feel there like it was necessary test the ears. So here I am still in pain and no answers..
In addition I have started snoring in the past 6 months real bad ..
I see an ENT and he was talking about removing my tonsils because I have tonsils stones bad. AND then he was talking about removing a portion of my soft pallet because I have a narrow passage. This was in hopes to improve on the snoring and breathing related to sleep apnea.. again I just sat back I didn’t want to jump into it.. so I have not had the surgery.. are the cerebella tonsil’s
Added to this are other problems I have had over the years I just try to ignore:
• I have poor leg circulation.. they fall asleep a lot. And if I am on a treadmill or exercise bike after the first 10 mins my feet are asleep LOL I am weird told you..
• The past I have for years felt like someone just moved my hair or something crawled on my head..
• Always feel a throbbing  behind my ears like I felt the blood pulsing though my artery
• Memory loss wow real bad
• Diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2008 (never got the machine)
• Will frequently have no depth perceptions of objects/ scenery
• Frequent bathroom trips.. and actually wet the bed 4x in the past 6 mths- the first 2x I woke up—but this is scary  
• I also have these breathing fits where I cough and cough gagging for air and then cough up this big sac of phlegm.
So what do you think.. should I be tested for this  Chiari Malformation

[selmaS]

  Hi and welcome to the Chiari forum.

First, the cerebral tonsils that r low lying in a chiari malformation patient is not the same and the ones u have stones in...we have 2 sets of tonsils.One in the skull and the other in the throat.

May I ask did u ever have an injury to ur back or neck..whip lash?...something along those lines?

There r sooooooo many conditions that have the same symptoms but r so different in the way they r treated and can be diff to dx .

  To dx chiari u would need a brain MRI and a cervical spine MRI w/wo contrast.ASK for copies of the MRI's and the reports...this is one way to rule this out. Also look to family history...of HA's etc...

  I hope this helps, if not keep asking ?'s

     "selma"

[zygy2]

Interesting topic!  Had not seen this post before.  My NS told me that he believes when the tonsils have herniated that they are damaged and that chances are they are not functioning and it is being compensated for in another area of the cerebellum.  They brain is such a complex thing and they still have so much to learn!  I can say that when the spinal fluid drilled a hole in my cerebellum it caused my left side to lose coordination, I could not touch my nose when asked in the ER before the emergency surgery.  I also lost the ability to see correctly, I could not figure out walls from floors from ceiling even though I knew I was in a bed I still could not get my brain to understand what my eyes were seeing.  I could not move my head without a feeling of being catapulted, not vertigo though they told me, it was like I was moving not the room was spinning!  Strangest thing and worst thing!  It was a horrible feeling, very terrifying.  I did notice a hard time speaking and still seem to stumble and stutter a bit in recovery.  I am getting my balance back but for a bit it was quite tricky.  The good news about the cerebellum is that another area will compensate and you will be able to retrain the things that the damaged area lost!  I see improvement daily.  There are lots of guesses about emotion things too in this area but even though I had problems with emotions (and still am) I know with these surgeries you can be stressed anyway.  I had SEVERE nausea when I moved too and I know with the nausea that is why so many people puke after surgery, it is just that this area can't be messed with it seems without causing nausea.  I have NEVER had such instant puking, if I moved half an inch I puked, which was why I went by ambulance!  I could not move or so many neurological thins were going crazy.  It was the cerebellum damaged so I can say pretty confidently that these are things controlled by that area.  So many different things to so many different people!

[Umbrells]

It's very hard to pin down exact functions to specific parts of the brain, for example, because we don't know how different areas interact etc.
Often the brain compensates for any parts that aren't working (there have been some amazing cases of this happening in extremely damaged brains) so I imagine this would be the case for if they are removed completely.

[Sparklyjojo23]

My NS just kept repeating that people didn't know what vomiting really was until they had had some sort of surgical activity or problem in this particular area of the brain because its the balance bit.
I have a favourite quote from a greys anatomy episode that I heard after my diagnosis that talks about the mystery that is the brain.


"The brain is the human body's most mysterious organ. It learns. It changes. It adapts. It tells us what we see, what we hear. It lets us feel love. I think it holds our soul. And no matter how much research we do, no one can really say how all that delicate grey matter inside our skull works. And, when it's hurt, when the human brain is traumatized, well, that's when it gets even more mysterious."