Hans Chiari (1851-1916)

Abstract

Introduction Hans Chiari will ever be remembered in neurosurgery for his paper (Ueber Veranderungen des Kleinhirns infolge von Hydrocephalie des Grosshirns) describing what is now regarded as the Chiari malformations in 1891. Contributions In 1899 and in conjunction with British internist George Budd, he described hepatic vein thrombosis now known as Budd-Chiari syndrome. Among his other accomplishments, he studied the relationship between carotid artery plaques and thrombosis. Chiari is also remembered by the eponym Chiari's network, which is a network of fine fibers extending from the Thebesian to Eustachian valves in the heart. In 1883, he demonstrated a fistulous connection between a pneumatocele in the frontal lobes and the ethmoid sinuses in a patient who died of meningitis following rhinorrhea and thus first indicated a mechanism to explain meningitis in this context. Chiari also made significant contributions with his observations of pituitary adenomas. It is the works of Hans Chiari on which we base many of our current understandings of the pathology of the nervous system.