title: A study on causes and types of abnormal increase in infants' head circumference in kashan/iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Head circumference is a valuable index of brain growth and its disturbances can indicate different disorders of nervous system. Abnormal increased head circumference (macrocephaly) is common and observed in about 2% of infants. In this study, the causes and clinical types of abnormal increase in infants' head circumference were investigated in Kashan, Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was performed on 90 infants less than 2 years of age with abnormal increase in head circumference in Kashan, during 2009- 2011. The data were collected by history taking, physical examination, growth chart, and imaging.
  
  
  RESULTS
  65 (72%) cases out of 90 infants were male and 25 ( 28%) cases were female. Fifty-three (58.8%) cases had familial megalencephaly, 30 (33.4%) had hydrocephalus, and other causes were observed in 7 (7.8%) cases. Eighty-three percent of Infants with familial megalencephaly and 50% with hydrocephalus had normal fontanels. In 90.6% of cases with familial megalencephaly, family history for large head was positive. Motor development was normal in 100% of cases with familial megalencephaly and 76.7% of hydrocephalic infants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Familial megalencephaly was the most common cause of macrocephaly in the studied infants, and most of them had normal physical examination and development, so, parental head circumferences should be considered in the interpretation of infant's head circumference and in cases of abnormal physical examination or development, other diagnostic modalities, including brain imaging should be done.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Talebian
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
authors.forename: Babak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Soltani
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Trauma Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moravveji
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ladan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Salamati
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Davami
keywords: Fontanel; Hydrocephalus; Infants; Macrocephaly