Chiari malformation/ Syringomyelia

If you or a loved one are having surgery for Chiari malformation and syringomyelia at Macquarie Neurosurgery, your surgeon will determine your treatment options in consultation with a multidisciplinary team.

This specialist group of surgeons is dedicated to ensuring you receive an excellent standard of care and support – before, during and after your surgery. Together, our doctors discuss your case and agree on a comprehensive diagnosis and treatment plan.

The team treating you may also collaborate with other surgeons, physicians, allied health professionals and rehabilitation specialists. The same approach is undertaken in theatre, with two of the team operating together on one patient.

Our multidisciplinary approach is an evidence-based model that ensures all patients receive the ideal approach to surgery and treatment for their unique case.

Our research team manages a range of projects looking at the complex causes and treatments of these conditions. Macquarie’s syringomyelia research has been supported by grants from the NHMRC, and from a syringomyelia research foundation based in the United States, The Column of Hope.

Work undertaken by our neuroscience researchers is based on an integral link between clinical work with patients and laboratory-based research in understanding the disease.

Laboratory work helps to understand the best clinical path for a patient, with treatment data then helping to determine next steps in the lab.

“One can’t happen without the other,” says Professor Stoodley, who is head of the Neurosciences Clinical Program at MQ Health.

“MQ Health’s unique model of healthcare means that learning and healing go hand-in-hand. The discovery of new knowledge informs treatment and treatment informs directions for new discoveries."

Current projects

Currently, we are performing clinical, psychological and MRI studies to determine the reason why some patients experience these neurological symptoms.

Our research teams are also studying how and why syringomyelia occurs in patients with Chiari malformation. We don't know why syringomyelia goes away in some but not all patients with this condition.

Our other projects include cutting-edge studies looking at fluid dynamics, fluid physiology and how the causes of syringomyelia interfere with fluid flow. We use animal models to understand the influences on fluid flow.

Already, our team has demonstrated that blood pressure and respiratory changes are critical in terms of how much and how fast fluid travels through spinal cord.

Training is a core focus and an essential component of our model at MQ Health and particularly within the clinical discipline of Neurosurgery. We have PhD students working in the lab, plus a combination of junior and senior registrars and fellows. We aim to generate a larger cohort of scientists working so they will keep working in the field after they complete their training with us.

Our goal is to ensure that, when a trainee leaves, they are confident in the up-to-date management of Chiari malformation and syringomyelia.

With us, trainees see many cases. Through conferences, they learn about a range of factors, such as interpreting the nuances of a scan, assessment and clinic, operative approaches and post-operative assessments.

In addition to training, our team is dedicated to bringing together specialists in these fields from around the world and educating the scientific community. Over the last year, we have convened two international conferences in Sydney and New York.

Because we have a large volume of patients, people who train with us are able to learn quite rapidly. With more than 100 patients coming through our clinic every year for these rare conditions, we operate on patients most weeks.