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Craniosynostosis

Four skull sutures or joints often involved in craniosynostosis
Sutures Most Often Involved in Craniosynostosis (drawn by Raymond Sze)

What is craniosynostosis?

Craniosynostosis is the early fusion of one or more of the sutures (specialized joints between skull bones that enable expansion of the skull during normal brain growth) between the bony plates of the skull.

When the sutures fuse too early, the skull cannot grow normally.

How much experience do you have treating craniosynostosis?

Our team treats more children with craniosynostosis than most large hospitals across the country. We operate on about 70 children with this condition each year.

Both a neurosurgeon and a craniofacial plastic surgeon participate in the surgery to ensure the best result. To learn more about neurosurgery, visit the Neurosurgery Web site.

Who gets craniosynostosis?

We don't know why some children have craniosynostosis. Most children with craniosynostosis have only one suture affected and do not have anything else wrong with them.

Craniosynostosis sometimes occurs as part of a genetic syndrome. A syndrome is a disease or disorder that has more than one identifying feature or symptom.

For example, Crouzon, Apert, Pfeiffer, and Saethre-Chotzen syndromes have craniosynostosis as part of the condition.

Children with genetic syndromes may have more than one suture that is affected and often have hand and feet abnormalities. Sometimes these syndromes are inherited and it is possible that you will know other relatives who had craniosynostosis.

What does a baby with craniosynostosis look like?

Babies with craniosynostosis generally have abnormally shaped skulls. The shape depends on which sutures are affected. Also, babies with craniosynostosis syndromes often have facial and hand abnormalities that help make the syndrome diagnosis.

How is craniosynostosis treated?

Surgery to reshape the skull is the most common treatment.

Only one incision is needed, which is made in a zigzag line from just above one ear to just above the other, within the child's hair. We have found that the scar blends in very well and is usually covered completely by the hair within months of the surgery.

The neurosurgeon on the team removes the affected suture and the craniofacial plastic surgeon reshapes the skull bones into a more normal shape. The new shape is held together by plates and screws while the bone heals.

The plates and screws are made of a special material that breaks down and dissolves completely in one or two years.

After the operation, the child is cared for in the intensive care unit for one to three nights and then spends the rest of the stay on the ward.

The usual stay in the hospital lasts three to five days.

The surgery is typically performed before the baby is 1 year old, but sometimes doctors suggest just watching a child with mild craniosynostosis to see how the skull will grow.

The treatment of simple craniosynostosis may require only one surgery before the baby is 1 year old. Children with craniofacial syndromes that include craniosynostosis often need a number of surgeries to correct the problem.

To learn more about neurosurgery, visit the Neurosurgery Web site.