Christian Sasig. Neuro-cranio-vertebral Syndrome. Filum Disease*. Arnold-Chiari Syndrome type I. Idiopathic scoliosis. Multiple disc disease

Published by ICSEB at 19 May, 2023

Surgery date: 30/03/2021
Filmed on: 21/04/2021



Hello! My name is Cristian and I am in Barcelona because I underwent the sectioning of the filum terminale. I am from Ecuador and I was diagnosed with Chiari type I. My symptoms started at the age of 30 when I started having severe headaches, dizziness, arm pain, tingling, back pain and then, the pain went down to the lumbar spine.

I visited different neurosurgeons in my country and the solution they gave me was that I had to have neck surgery. This worried me quite a bit because it is a head surgery, so I decided to do a little more research and looked for people on social media who had the same Chiari type I diagnosis.

Researching in the groups that I found about this condition, I was recommended to ask for a remote diagnosis here at the Institute Chiari de Barcelona. I sent them my scans by email and they provided me with an indicative diagnosis. Then I had the opportunity to travel to Barcelona, they examined me during the medical consultation and after a year I was able to travel to undergo the surgery of the sectioning of the filum terminale. It has now almost been a month since I underwent surgery and I can say that I have improved in some aspects: some of the symptoms that I had disappeared – such as the lower back pain -, I no longer have dizziness, the headache has also improved, there is still a slight pain in the thoracic spine; but I am only a month in from surgery and I prefer to wait and see how I continue to improve over time.

I recommend this new surgery that is not performed on the head but in the lumbar area, which, according to my  research, is less invasive – which is why I decided to undergo it – since undergoing a brain surgery worried me a lot. This would be all I can share with people who have this disease: I encourage them to request distance guidance and come here to undergo surgery.