Info on Arnold-Chiari I, Idiopathic Syringomyelia, and Idiopathic Scoliosis: Causes and Insights

C. Merló (left) and Chiari patient E. Tarquini (right) French patient Emmanuelle Tarquini is on an important date in March, the “Women’s Month”. On the morning of the 19 th , she and her teammate, Cécilia Merló, left from harbour of Barcelona for Morocco, where they are taking part in the 27 th edition of the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles , the only off-road competition worldwide exclusively for female competitors. In order to participate, Tarquini has had to face a much bigger challenge than riding in a 4×4 jeep for 2500 kilometres through the Moroccan desert. Her great test has been to overcome the difficulties caused by the Arnold-Chiari I Syndrome, that was bringing about insufferable headaches, also neck pain and paresthesias in her right body half.

At the Institut Chiari & Siringomielia & Escoliosis de Barcelona we are very aware that for our patients it is important to be able to express their concerns as freely as possible. Since its foundation, a team of international patient care was built in order to support our medical team in communicating with patients of any language or nationality. More on the topic of cultural mediation in this Blog post here . Today we want to introduce you to our collegue Nina Piorkowska. Polish speaking patients can count on their new contact person since July 2016 to look after them from the first email contact, to the first consultation in person, the surgical treatment and during all of the post-operative follow up process, acting as a bridge between the patients and the medical specialists of the Institut Chiari.