Clinical Outcome Measures in Chiari I Malformation

Abstract

Chiari malformation type 1 (CM-I) is a common and often debilitating neurologic disease. Reliable evaluation of treatments has been hampered by inconsistent use of clinical outcome measures. A variety of outcome measurement tools are available, although few have been validated in CM-I. The recent development of the Chicago Chiari Outcome Scale and the Chiari Symptom Profile provides CM-I-specific instruments to measure outcomes in adults and children, although validation and refinement may be necessary.

Keywords: Chiari malformation type 1; Clinical research; Outcome instruments; Outcome methods; Quality of life; Treatment outcome.