The authors provide a simple, accurate and reproducible method of estimating foramen magnum area in the pediatric Chiari I group. The irregular shape of the foramen magnum is accentuated by developmental bony and soft tissue anomalies at the cranio-vertebral junction in Chiari malformation. Consequently, an individualized cross-sectional assessment of the foramen magnum in relation to the hindbrain tissue in the same plane is required to study the initiation and propagation of the Chiari I symptomatology.

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