Do preterm infants always have flattened heads?
It has previously been shown that a soft mattress lessens the degree of head flattening that occurs in preterm infants in the early weeks of life. A follow up study of 31 infants of < 32 weeks' gestation found head flattening had resolved by 3-4 years of age, regardless of the type of mattress used in the neonatal period, and the children had heads similar in shape to full term controls.
Rutter
N
N
Department of Neonatal Medicine and Surgery, Nottingham City Hospital.
Hinchliffe
W
W
Cartlidge
P H
PH
D000367:Age Factors; D001513:Beds; D002508:Cephalometry; D005260:Female; D006257:Head / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008297:Male