Live Life Team
Some infants are born with an abnormally shaped skull. Such a condition is called craniosynostosis.This condition may develop during a later stage also. This generally happens due to problems that occur during the development of skull. The skull is made of 5 plates of bone. There is an opening between each plate which is known as suture. These sutures provide flexibility to the bone plates thus allowing it to grow along with the brain. Once the skull reaches the adult size, the sutures fuse together to create a single bone structure. In some cases one of the sutures fuses before birth or shortly after birth. The skull is not able to grow in one area leading to overgrowth in another. This leads to development of an abnormally shaped skull. Craniosynostosis is a type of birth defect and is very rare. Craniosynostosis if not treated will increase the pressure on the brain as the bones get squeezed in this condition. It can be treated by surgery and is performed on infants between 3 to 6 months.
Symptoms:
Craniosynostosis is of four types.
Sagittal synostosis – Generally 50-58% of cases are Sagittal synostosis and it is the most common type of craniosynostosis.In this condition the skull grows length wise and becomes narrow.
Coronal Craniosynostosis- This is second most common type of craniosynostosis accounting to 20 to 29 % of the cases. In this condition the infant develops a flattened forehead if one coronal suture fuses. The infant develops a flat and prominently elevated forehead and brow if both coronal sutures are fused.
Metopic synostosis –Infants suffering for metopic synostosis develop a triangular looking scalp.
Lambdoid synostosis-Infants suffering from such type of Craniosynostosis develop flattened head.
Symptoms of intercranial pressure
A child suffering from mild Craniosynostosis cannot be spotted until he develops problems due to increase in intercranial pressure (ICP).
Symptoms of ICP
-Swollen eyes
-Vomiting
-Difficulty in hearing
-Difficulty in breathing
-Sluggishness and irritability
Cause:
The exact cause of Craniosynostosis is not known till now. Experts believe that craniosynostosis may develop due to mutated genes. It is found that in about 1 to 4% of the cases if a couple already has a baby suffering from craniosynostosis, there is small risk that their future child will suffer from the same condition.
Treatment
A child suffering from craniosynostosis is recommended to undergo a surgery. This kind of surgery is carried out by a neurosurgeon and a craniofacial surgeon. A specialist in surgery of the nervous system and brain is a neurosurgeon. A craniofacial surgeon is a specialist in surgery of head, jaw and face. The surgery is performed by making an incision on the skull of the child. The affected areas are then removed by the neurosurgeon. A craniofacial surgeon reshapes the removed bone pieces and then put into normal position in the skull. This kind of surgery is not dangerous but care should be taken after the surgery is performed. After the surgery the child is put into ICU for one or two days .In most cases children are allowed to leave the hospital in the 4th or 5th day. Developing swellings in the eyes and mild pain in the scalp are common after the surgery. These go down after a few days but it is advisable to go for regular check ups.
