Background: Brain imaging has been utilized as a diagnostic tool in the workup of persistent pediatric dysphagia, yet the indications for imaging and the prevalence of Chiari malformation (CM) have not been established.
Objective: to evaluate the prevalence of CM anomalies in children who underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for pharyngeal dysphagia and to review the clinical findings in the CM group compared to the non-CM group.
Methods: A retrospective cohort study of children who underwent MRI as part of the workup for the diagnosis of dysphagia in a tertiary care children's hospital between 2010 and 2021.
Results: 150 patients were included. The mean age at diagnosis of dysphagia was 1 ± 3.4 years, and the mean age at MRI was 3.5 ± 4.2 years. Common comorbidities in our cohort included prematurity (n = 70, 46.7 %), gastroesophageal reflux (n = 65, 43.3 %), neuromuscular/seizure disorder (n = 53,35.3 %), and underlying syndrome (n = 16, 10.7 %). Abnormal brain findings were seen in 32 (21.3 %) patients, of whom 5 (3.3 %) were diagnosed with CM-I and 4 (2.7 %) patients with tonsillar ectopia. Clinical characteristics and dysphagia severity were similar between patients with CM-I/tonsillar ectopia and patients without tonsillar herniation.
Conclusions: Brain MRI should be pursued as part of the work-up for persistent dysphagia in pediatric patients given the relatively higher prevalence of CM-I. Multi-institutional studies are required to establish the criteria and timing of brain imaging in patients with dysphagia.
Keywords: Brain anomaly; Chiari malformation; MRI; Persistent pediatric dysphagia; Tonsillar ectopia.
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