Congenital deformities of the skull
Craniosynostosis/Craniostenosis
Craniostenosis is a deformity of the skull caused by premature ossification of the skulls sutures. Here, one or more sutures are closed. In some cases, this may lead to an increased pressure within the skull (increased intracranial pressure).
The main indication for surgery is given when there is the risk of an increasing intracranial pressure. This may cause blindness and retardation in psychomotorical development. This risk is especially high in cases of genetic syndromes, where numerous sutures are affected, such as Morbus Crouzon, the Apert syndrome and the Pfeiffer syndrome. In many cases, however, isolated ossifications of sutures are found, where mostly only the cosmetic aspect plays a role. An often misinterpreted phenomenon is positional plagiocephalus. Here the skull shows asymmetrical deformity caused by unilateral positioning of the babys head.
Plagiocephalic by positioning (left) and frontal craniosynostosis (right)
Synostosis of the sagittal suture (left) and syndromic synostosis of multiple sutures (right)
The best time for surgery is in the early stages of the disease, whereat the expected blood loss during the operation and any additional operations of the facial skull, when indicated, must be taken into consideration.
We recommend the very early presentation of the child in our neurosurgical and neuropediatric outpatient department.
Dr. Mukesch Shah, MD
Senior neurosurgeon
Children consultation hours
Dr. Florian Volz, MD
Attending neurosurgeon