Radiologists in Los Angeles, CA

Jessica Shaffer check this out. You know lots here.

I would get an appointment as soon as you can. Get second and third opinions. See experts like Dr. Henderson near Washington, Dr. Bolognese at the Chiari Institute in Long Island, NY, or Dr. Oro, I want to say Colorado, but I am drawing a blank right now.

By the way, I'm not in the medical field, but I have had Chiari surgery and tethered cord release and my son has had Chiari decompression and skull to C1 and C2 fusion. We had to become very knowledgable. Best of luck! If you need any more info. Let me know! Should I give them your name at Beyond the Measurement?

Tanya Bartone, Jessica is correct. You have Cranial cervical instability or CCI. You need to be in a hard collar. Vista brand is the best. That's what brand Dr Henderson and Dr Durrani uses. The bent brain stem you asked about is called the clivius axle angle or CAA. Suppose to be between 150 and 160. I had CCI and had my skull to C2 fusion 10 mths ago. My angle was 120 and I had lots of brain stem compression. You definitely have brain stem compression. I feel so much better after my surgery. It gave me back my life. Upright MRI with flex/extension is necessary. I drive 3 hrs each way for one. Anyways you need to see Dr Henderson or Dr Durrani. They are both EDS experts and know CCI etc

Tanya Bartone, also ask about your lateral ventricle. To me it looks a bit enlarged, like you may have too much csf in it. This could be a reabsorption issue, maybe causing pressure problems. It's difficult to say for sure, because everyone is different anatomically, but it doesn't seem quite right to me. Also, I don't think, based on this particular image, that Chiari is an issue for you. However, if your brainstem would be straightened, I wonder if your cerebellar tonsils may begin to hang downward, causing a disruption in flow. I have actually seen imaging of the tonsils being wrapped around the brainstem, and when they were released by the surgeon, they were really quite long. It's hard to say for sure, but yours might be slightly wrapped. It definitely looks like your cerebellum is impinging on your brainstem posteriorly, and of course, there is basilar invagination anteriorly. What a painful mess!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiopathic_intracranial_hypertension "The specific type of tinnitus called pulsatile tinnitus is characterized by one hearing the sounds of one's own pulse or muscle contractions, which is typically a result of sounds that have been created from the movement of muscles near to one's ear, changes within the canal of one's ear or issues related to blood flow of the neck or face." You did say you have wooshing sounds in your head that coincide with your heartbeat, right?

I third the Beyond the Measurement group recommendation! I see a retroflexed odontoid{which could contribute to the bent brain stem) and possibly low lying tonsils, but other people in that group will surely know more.

Not sure about online, but Moorpark College has a radiology tech program http://www.moorparkcollege.edu/departments/academic/radiologic-technology

Try Radnet.Com

. https://www.twitter.com/first10em - or even getting the surgeons to accept the US finding - they want CT’s so they can also review it