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Craniofacial Conditions
Background
Abnormalities of skull shape can arise either from external pressure exerted on the head in early life, or from intrinsic abnormalities of growth. The most common intrinsic abnormality of skull growth is called craniosynostosis, which affects about 1 in 2,500 children. Craniosynostosis is the medical term for the premature closure of one or more of the seams between the skull bones. As the brain grows during fetal life and childhood, the overlying skull also enlarges by adding new bone at these seams, which are termed sutures. The major sutures are the midline metopic (at the front) and sagittal (at the top) sutures, and the paired coronal and lambdoid sutures. The coronal sutures run across the skull in front of the ears, crossing the junction of the metopic and sagittal sutures; the lambdoid sutures divide from the back end of the sagittal suture and run obliquely forwards to end up behind the each ear.
