Learning objectives
This educational paper highlights normal anatomy of cranian sutures,
the various types of craniosynostoses,
common craniofacial syndromes and not least the essential role of imaging in their diagnosis and management.
Background
Virchow introduced in 1851 the term craniosynostosis to describe a variety of abnormalities in calvarial growth,
resulting in skull deformity.
Craniosynostosis or craniostenosis,
are the premature fusion of one or more of the cranial sutures,
restricting cranial growth perpendicular to the affected suture with compensatory overgrowth along the other patent sutures.
The clinical outcome varies between minor cosmetic deformity to severe head growth restriction with increased intracranial pressure,
mental retardation and cranial palsies.The cranial vault surrounds and encloses the brain,
and is formed from several...
Findings and procedure details
Anatomy is essential in imaging cranyosynostosis,
and includes the major and minor sutures,
fontanels,
bones and major skull landmarks,
all of which have been depicted in figure 1.
The first step in assessing patients with an abnormal skull shape is a clinical examination in which almost all forms of monosutural craniosynostoses can be diagnosed.
Ultrasonography is the technique of choice for diagnosis of neonates and infants,showing preliminarydiagnosis.
It is a less expensive,
nonradiating and easy-to-handle techniqueensuring the diagnosis of craniosynostosis.
In many centers sonography is...
Conclusion
However,
exposure to ionized radiation from CT scans has led researchers to explore alternative imaging techniques and protocols for craniosynostosis including the use of ultrasonography,
plain skull radiography and magnetic resonance imaging
References
Imaging in the Evaluation of Children with Suspected Craniosynostosis Daniel N.
Vinocur
Classification and Feature Selection for Craniosynostosis,
Shulin Yang
Prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of fetal craniosynostosis,
S.
DELAHAYE
Diagnostic Accuracy of Ultrasonic Examination in Suspected Craniosynostosis Among Infants,
HOUMAN ALIZADEH
Pictorial essay: The many faces of craniosynostosis
Paritosh C Khanna
Craniosynostosis : Updates in Radiologic DiagnosisHyun Jeong Kim