Holmes has a condition called Chiari malformations, which affects the part of the brain that controls balance. Symptoms include dizziness and problems with vision and co-ordination. Holmes began experiencing vertigo-like symptoms at the Players Championship in May, the PGA Tour said.

“This a relatively low-risk surgery and only takes about an hour and a half,” Holmes said in the statement. “Best of all, there’s a very high success rate in fixing the condition.”

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The last statement quoted above is a quote from Holmes, who is the patient.  It’s clear that he has been given a very optimistic prognosis, or possibly does not fully understand just what he is getting into.  Shannon’s surgery was over 4 hours, which was considered “quick” and “uneventful”.  The surgeon must open the covering of the brain called the “dura”, and also must remove a piece of the vertebrae, called the lamina, as well as cut out a piece of the skull.  There is nothing “relatively low risk” in this surgery, on the overall scale of “risk” in surgical procedures.  The procedure has a 60% – 80% success rate roughly broken down like this:

  • 30% – 40% “Excellent, symptom-free, no real limitations”
  • 30% – 40%  “Good, some improvement, varying limitations”
  • 10% – 20%  “Poor, no improvement, significant limitations”
This does not seem to translate to “high success rate”, and it’s widely known that there is really no “cure” for Chiari.  The surgery simply creates more room in the posterior fossa, to lessen/alleviate the symptoms.
All this said, I hope and pray that J.B. Holmes has a successful outcome from his surgery, and that his symptom alleviation is to the greatest degree, so he can get back to golf and live his life pain free.