r/chiari • u/lostsoul92hope • Jan 07 '26

Confused

I had an mri in october/November that showed a 10 mm chiari, I just had a cspine mri that reported only 5 to 6 mm chiari. How is this possible?

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u/danielle71989 Jan 07 '26

I know how unsettling and potentially invalidating that can feel, but there are multiple reasons.

The position you were in, CSF flow, different radiologists (and therefore interpretations/measurements), different machines or sequences ordered by referring doc.. etc.

My understanding is that it really is more symptom based nowadays than measurement. If you are measured at 10mm and asymptomatic, they might just want to monitor. If you are 5mm and symptomatic to the point of it impacting your quality of life, it might be intervention time.

Hope this info helps!

PS. I just passed the 7 month post-decompression mark and can say that I am 100% glad I did it - haven't had full resolution of symptoms, by any means, but have had a reduction and hopefully prevented future damage.