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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
Craniosynostosis is a birth defect in which one or more of the joints between the bones of your infant's skull close prematurely, before your infant's brain is fully formed. When your baby has craniosynostosis, his or her brain can't grow in its natural shape and the head is misshapen.
Craniosynostosis can affect one or more of the joints in your infant's skull. In some cases, craniosynostosis is associated with an underlying brain abnormality that prevents the brain from growing properly.
Treating craniosynostosis usually means your infant needs surgery to separate the fused bones. If there's no underlying brain abnormality, the surgery allows the brain adequate space to grow and develop.
- Craniosynostosis information page. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/craniosynostosis/craniosynostosis.htm. Accessed March 22, 2009.
- Stal S, et al. Overview of craniosynostosis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 23, 2009.
- Stal S, et al. Craniosynostosis syndromes. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 23, 2009.
- Craniosynostosis and craniofacial disorders. American Association of Neurological Surgeons. http://www.neurosurgerytoday.org/what/patient_e/craniosynostosis.asp. Accessed March 27, 2009.
- SIDS: "Back to sleep" campaign. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. http://www.nichd.nih.gov/sids. Accessed March 27, 2009.
