Development , validation , and incorporation of a small number of disease-specific patient-based instruments will improve the quality of research and care of CM-I patients
OBJECT Chiari malformation Type I ( CM-I ) is a common and often debilitating neurological disease .
Efforts to improve treatment of CM-I are impeded by inconsistent and limited methods of evaluating clinical outcomes .
Introduction of a score system for the clinical evaluation of patients with spinal processes.
To facilitate statistical analysis of the clinical course of patients with spinal lesions such as tumours , dysraphic malformations , inflammation , or syringomyelia , we have developed a score system for each of the following symptoms and signs : sensory deficits , dysaesthesiae , pain , motor weakness , gait , bladder and bowel function . For each a score between 0 and 5 is given . The grading is design ed in such a way that levels of functional significance receive separate scores : 0 = no function , 1 = severely disabled , 2 = disabled , 3 = severely compromised but function preserved , 4 = slightly compromised , and 5 = normal function . In general , scores between 0 and 2 indicate insufficient functional capacity and an unsatisfactory condition . Scores between 3 and 5 represent levels of function which should be the aim of treatment . We have used this scoring system for evaluation of almost 500 patients with spinal lesions both retrospectively and prospect ively with good results in terms of reproducibility and validity
Development , validation , and incorporation of a small number of disease-specific patient-based instruments will improve the quality of research and care of CM-I patients
OBJECT Chiari malformation Type I ( CM-I ) is a common and often debilitating neurological disease .
Efforts to improve treatment of CM-I are impeded by inconsistent and limited methods of evaluating clinical outcomes .