A morphometric evaluation of anterior fontanel and cranial sutures in infants using computed tomography

Abstract

Background: To retrospectively analyze anterior fontanel (AF) and the morphometric findings of cranial sutures in infants under two years of age who underwent cranial computed tomography (CT). Material and Methods: A total of 227 cases, who had cranial CT examination, were studied retrospectively. Forty-five patients were excluded. The study was conducted with 182 patients who had adeqaute imaging with optimum quality. The diameter and area of AF and cranial sutures of the patients were measured using three-dimensional CT reformat and axial CT images. Results: Male patients made up 53.8% of the total patients and the median age was 6 months. Normocephaly in 86.3%, plagiocephaly in 10.4%, scaphocephaly in 2.7% and trigonocephaly in 0.5% of the cases were present. The median AF transverse diameter was 29.75 mm, the median anteriorposterior diameter was 27.25 mm, and the median fontanel area was 400 mm2. AF was closed in 30.4% in 13-18 months old patiets and 85.7% in 19-24 months old patients. Metopic suture was closed 10% in the first 3 months of age / their lives, 74.3% in 7-9 months of age, and 100% in 19-24 months of age. There was a significant negative correlation between head circumference and suture diameters in infants with open and normosephalic AF, in the CT examination (p <0.05. R = - 0.106 -0.271). Conclusion: In this study, it was observed that 14.3% of AF did not close radiologically in 19-24 months in the Turkish population living in the Europe - Balkan region. This suggests that AF closes in some patients after the age of two.

Keywords

• Cranial fontanel
• Infant
• Computed tomography

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