Cranial synostosis and intra-uterine compression: a developmental study of human sutures.
The following hypothetical statements can be made. 1) Increased intra-uterine compression of the human cranium during the third trimester appears to produce sagittal synostosis by irreversibly altering the still immature sutural tissue that separates the parietal bones. 2) Intra-uterine compression does not cause facial sutures to fuse because they are physically shielded by the larger neurocranium and their ligaments are sufficiently mature to survive a chronic compressive force. 3) Postnatal compression of cranial and facial sutures normally does not result in bony fusion because their vascularized, differentiated, mature ligaments are capable of repair and regeneration.
D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005147:Facial Bones / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010294:Parietal Bone / Q000196:embryology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D012886:Skull / Q000196:embryology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013537:Sutures; D013580:Synostosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*