Frontosphenoidal synostosis: a rare cause of unilateral anterior plagiocephaly.
BACKGROUND
When a child walks in the clinic with a unilateral frontal flattening, it is usually associated in our minds with unilateral coronal synostosis. While the latter might be the most common cause of anterior plagiocephaly, it is not the only one. A patent coronal suture will force us to consider other etiologies, such as deformational plagiocephaly, or synostosis of another suture. To understand the mechanisms underlying this malformation, the development and growth of the skull base must be considered.


METHODS
There have been few reports in the literature of isolated frontosphenoidal suture fusion, and we would like to report a series of five cases, as the recognition of this entity is important for its treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Frontosphenoidal synostosis must be searched in the absence of a coronal synostosis in a child with anterior unilateral plagiocephaly, and treated surgically.
de Ribaupierre
Sandrine
S
Department of Neurosurgery, CHUV, Rue de Bugnon, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland. s_derib@hotmail.com
Czorny
Alain
A
Pittet
Brigitte
B
Jacques
Bertrand
B
Rilliet
Benedict
B
D002648:Child; D003393:Cranial Sutures / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000601:surgery*; D019465:Craniofacial Abnormalities / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005624:Frontal Bone / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D035583:Rare Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D013100:Sphenoid Bone / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013580:Synostosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome