In the spring 2012 issue of Weill Cornell Medicine, Dr. Jeffrey Greenfield talks about his patient Connor Ventura, and about diagnosing, treating, and seeking new options for Chiari malformation.
New Jersey high school sophomore Connor Ventura was playing in a soccer showcase in Phoenix in December 2009 when he experienced severe dizziness, headache, and near-delirium. He decided to play through it; after all, this was his shot at impressing the Division I college scouts. At the end of the game, he collapsed. The coaches thought it was a concussion. But Ventura, then fifteen, didn’t recall getting hit. Nor did his mother, Patti, remember Connor having anything more than normal impact with another player.
At a Phoenix hospital, they got some sobering news: Connor needed brain surgery, and soon. “I tried to keep it all in,” he says. “I could see my Mom was a wreck, so I wanted to be strong. But I can’t tell you the feelings that went through me. I was scared.” (Read A Parent's Perspective by Connor's mom, Patti Ventura.)
Ten days and a battery of tests later, Ventura was diagnosed with a condition known as Chiari malformation. He underwent a surgical decompression procedure at the Weill Cornell Brain and Spine Center, the region’s leading hospital for treating patients with Chiari. The operation was a success; today, Ventura says he is “healthier than I’ve ever been.”
