Craniosynostosis is a general term that describes premature closure of the cranial sutures in babies.
The sutures are the spaces between the skull bones that allow for normal growth of the skull. Some infants have congenital craniosynostosis along a suture due to abnormal bone development. The shape of the skull may worsen over several months. Some of these children may require surgery to reshape the skull and prevent significant long term problems.
Some children develop an abnormal head shape because they persistently rest on the same area of the skull, either before or after birth. The condition is called deformational plagiocephaly, or positional molding, and the head shape is lop-sided, with flattening of one side on the back and bulging of the same side on the front. Since the American Academy of Pediatrics made the recommendation for babies sleep on their backs, there has been a significant decrease in the number of babies dying from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). At the same time, there has been an increase in frequency of positional molding. Torticollis (wry neck with persistent turning of the head to one side) may be associated with positional molding. These children often have significant improvement from non-operative interventions such as repositioning, physical therapy and sometimes headbands, and many spontaneously improve on their own as the infant moves about more.
The craniofacial team at Rainbow includes specialists in pediatric neurosurgery, plastic surgery, otolaryngology, neurology, genetics, radiology, dentistry, and blood conservation. The team has expertise caring for children with many complex genetic conditions, including Apert, Crouzon and Pfeiffer syndromes. Children with these and other genetic syndromes typically have involvement of multiple bone sutures, and frequently require surgical correction by the craniofacial team.