[Basilar impression and malformation of Arnold-Chiari. Postoperative complications in 126 cases (author's transl)]

Within a period of ten years we operated on 126 cases of basilar impression and/or Arnold-Chiari malformation. Two surgical techniques were employed for decompression of the posterior fossa. In the group I (64 cases) the operation consisted of craniectomy and the dura mater was left open and was fixed to the lateral musculature. The technique of the group II (62 cases) consisted in endotracheal intubation without flexion of the head, position of the head without anterior flexion during the operation and plastic closure of the dura. The dural graft was employed to create more space at the craniocervical joint, to avoid cerebrospinal fluid fistula and to restore the integrity of the dura as a protection for the nervous structures of the posterior fossa. The frequency of postoperative complications and mortality observed in group II was definitely less than in the group I.