Leptocephaly is a rare form of complex
craniosynostosis
Craniosynostosis is a condition in which one or more of the fibrous sutures in a young infant's skull prematurely fuses by turning into bone (ossification), thereby changing the growth pattern of the skull. Because the skull cannot expand perpe ...
(usually considered a form of
scaphocephaly
Scaphocephaly or sagittal craniosynostosis is a type of cephalic disorder which occurs when there is a premature fusion of the sagittal suture. Premature closure results in limited lateral expansion of the skull, resulting in a characteristic ...
) in which the
sagittal
The sagittal plane (; also known as the longitudinal plane) is an anatomical plane that divides the body into right and left sections. It is perpendicular to the transverse plane, transverse and coronal plane, coronal planes. The plane may be in ...
and
metopic suture
The frontal suture is a fibrous joint that divides the two halves of the frontal bone of the human skull, skull in infants and children. Typically, it completely fuses between three and nine months of age, with the two halves of the frontal bone ...
simultaneously close. Leptocephaly is characterized by equal narrowing of the head (from full sagittal fusion) and a tall and narrow (rather than long) head shape. Leptocephaly is usually nonsyndromic, but has been seen in individual cases such as
Neu-Laxova syndrome.
The term ''leptocephaly'' has also been used (erroneously) to refer to
microcephaly
Microcephaly (from Neo-Latin ''microcephalia'', from Ancient Greek μικρός ''mikrós'' "small" and κεφαλή ''kephalé'' "head") is a medical condition involving a smaller-than-normal head. Microcephaly may be present at birth or it m ...
.
See also
*
List of conditions with craniosynostosis
*
Trigonocephaly
Trigonocephaly is a congenital condition due to premature Synostosis, fusion of the metopic suture (), leading to a triangular forehead. The premature merging of the two frontal bones leads to transverse growth restriction and parallel growth ex ...
(isolated metopic synostosis)
References
External links
MedGen NCBI entry
Anatomical pathology
Congenital disorders of musculoskeletal system
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