Signs, Symptoms & Clinical Features
Failure to thrive / feeding difficulties (infants)
Failure to thrive and feeding difficulties are signs in infants that can indicate Chiari malformation affecting the brainstem, warranting prompt evaluation.
In short: Failure to thrive / feeding difficulties (infants)
- They are poor growth and difficulty feeding in infants.
- They can indicate brainstem involvement in Chiari.
- They are particularly relevant in Chiari II.
- They warrant prompt evaluation.
What it is
Failure to thrive (poor weight gain and growth) and feeding difficulties are signs in infants that can indicate Chiari malformation affecting the brainstem — particularly in Chiari II. They warrant prompt evaluation.
Understanding Failure to thrive / feeding difficulties (infants)
Feeding requires coordinated sucking, swallowing, and breathing, controlled by the lower brainstem. When the brainstem is affected in Chiari — especially in infants with Chiari II — feeding can become difficult, with problems such as poor suck, swallowing difficulty, gagging, or choking, which can lead to inadequate nutrition and failure to thrive. These signs can indicate significant brainstem dysfunction and, in Chiari II, can be part of a serious picture requiring urgent attention. Because feeding difficulties and failure to thrive can have many causes in infants, they are evaluated carefully, with Chiari considered particularly in infants with spina bifida or other risk factors. Recognizing these signs is important for timely care. Understanding failure to thrive and feeding difficulties clarifies important infant signs of brainstem involvement in Chiari.
Why it matters
Understanding failure to thrive and feeding difficulties helps caregivers recognize them as possible signs of brainstem involvement in Chiari (especially Chiari II) that warrant prompt evaluation.
Common questions
What do these signs indicate in Chiari?
Possible brainstem involvement affecting feeding.
Which type are they especially relevant to?
Chiari II.
Why do they warrant prompt evaluation?
They can indicate significant brainstem dysfunction.
Bottom line
Failure to thrive and feeding difficulties in infants can indicate Chiari affecting the brainstem, especially Chiari II, warranting prompt evaluation.
Browse all 265 Chiari malformation definitions
Read the Chiari malformation patient guides
Not sure which page you need? Put words to it with the symptom navigator