lowered cerebral tonsils

[abbeys_mom]

my little girl, abbey is 1 so she can't exactly tell me when something is wrong.  Our doctor referred her on to a Pediatric Neurologist in Montgomery, AL because she had went from walking great to hardly walking at all.  After several blood test and x-rays we finally had a MRI of her head and spine done.  The one of the spine looked fine, but the one of her head showed that her cerebral tonsils were inflamed and lowered.  She said that they were being pulled down into her foramen magnum.  Then she really confused me because she was just going to say that her problem was Ataxia.  I couldn't understand this.  So...  We are scheduled to go see another Pediatric Neurologist at Children's Hospital in Birmingham, AL.  Needless to say it's taking a while to actually get in to see the doctor.  Well...  I've noticed this week that she's became very irritable and she's been banging her head on things.  She's even got a bad bruise on her face from all the banging.  I don't know whether it might be the cerebral tonsils causing problems for her  or what...  I'm just really worried about her and was wondering if someone might be able to help me.  Thanks for all your help in advance.

[patti103]

I don't know if you will be checking this, but I hope you do. I have Chiari Malformation type 1. My tonsils were herniated (pulled down past the opening at the bottom of the skull) 3 mm when I first had my MRI. I have multiple symptoms- mostly seem like endocrine problems. I started seeing a chiropractor, even though this is highly controversial. He showed me x-rays that showed that I had a subluxation of the axis (ataxia). I did get some instant relief from adjustments. I went to him for four months and didn't realize the significant relief until I stopped going. It has been three weeks since I last went and now that my symptoms are returning, I realize how bad it really is. I am still not convinced that the Chiro is safe. I believe that the tension in my neck muscles (however minimal) pulls at my neck, in turn pulling my spine out of alignment. I am going to try deep tissue massage to see if the same results can be achieved without the aggressive manipulation of the neck. If so, I will fore go the neck manipulations, if not, I will return to the Chiro. Just keep  looking and try the most non aggressive options first. I have read too many horror stories about surgeries on this particular topic. Good luck to you, your baby and your family. I will pray for her.

[chris793]

I was playing football one day in a game and i made helmet to helmet contact with another kid.  I had been pulled out of the game.  I took a week out of school with no contact.  I had constant head ach's for about a week.  I went to a walk in center and they told me i need to go get a CT scan.  I went to the scan and they said they found one spot that needed to be looked at.  I went to the MRI and they wont give me the results yet.  Do you have any idea what it could be?  Also i was told it was my Cerebral Tonsil.  Any ideas how long i cold be out?

[abbeys_mom]

Thank you for explaining to me why she told me Abbey had Ataxia.  Now I understand and that makes me feel a little better.  I had wondered if it might be a headache, but tylenol doesn't seem to be helping.  She's supposed to see the new pediatric neurologist on April 14th.  I'm going to call today to see if maybe I can get her in earlier because the head banging is concerning me.  I'm afraid she's going to do some damage if I can't get it stopped.  I'll update when I know more.  Also, thank you biz_mom.  I wasn't quite sure what it was called.  The other neurologist that discovered the condition didn't really tell me anything about it.  

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

Ataxia is a term used to describe incoordination of muscles responsible for balancing the body. Ataxia is not a diagnosis. The reason for her ataxia is the lowering of the tonsils and a possible cerebellar dysfunction.

As mentioned by biz_mom, this could be a manifestation of the Chiari malformation. In this malformation, the cerebellar tonsils are elongated. They tend to protrude out of the foramen magnum and in the process, block the CSF flow, leading to increased pressure in the cranial cavity.

Your daughter is most probably experiencing headaches. Head banging is a sign of headache in children, since they can not communicate it like we do.

When do you expect to see the new pediatric neurologist?

Regards

[biz_mom]

sound like she might have Chiari Malformation