Posterior calvarial augmentation in premature craniosynostosis: a technique avoiding foreign implants or free bone flaps

• Published in: Child's nervous system Vol. 26; no. 11; pp. 1549 - 1553
• Main Authors: Wagner, Wolfgang, Schwandt, Eike, Huthmann, Alexandra, Vulcu, Sonja, Tschan, Christoph
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Berlin/Heidelberg : Springer-Verlag 01.11.2010; Springer-Verlag
• Subjects: Bone Transplantation; Brachycephaly; Cranial Fossa, Posterior - pathology; Cranial Fossa, Posterior - surgery; Craniosynostoses - diagnosis; Craniosynostoses - surgery; Craniosynostosis; Craniotomy - methods; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Infant; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neurosciences; Neurosurgery; Occipital Bone - abnormalities; Occipital Bone - pathology; Occipital Bone - surgery; Original Paper; Plagiocephaly - diagnosis; Plagiocephaly - surgery; Posterior augmentation; Prostheses and Implants; surgery; Suture Techniques; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Brachycephaly; Surgical technique; Craniosynostosis; Posterior augmentation
• ISSN: 0256-7040; 1433-0350
• DOI: 10.1007/s00381-010-1158-2

Background A surgical technique of posterior calvarial augmentation without the use of plates or screws and avoiding the formation of free bone flaps is described. Discussion Three infants with strong occipital flattening successfully underwent the procedure in their first year of life. There were no intra- or postoperative complications; the amelioration of the head shape and the cosmetic results in all three cases were convincing also in the long term. Conclusion The proposed surgical technique is both feasible and effective; it is recommended for infants with marked flat deformation of the posterior calvaria in the first year of life.