Deformities

Plagiocephaly

Plagiocephaly literally means “parallelogram head”, this anomaly occurs when external forces are placed on the infant’s cranium for long periods of time. These forces can occur in utero or after birth from prolonged supine positioning. The occurrence of Plagiocephaly has greatly increased in recent years with the “Back to Sleep Program”. The “Back to Sleep Program” has dramatically reduced infant deaths from SIDS but with its implementation the incidence of Plagiocephaly has risen, thus giving rise to the need for Cranial Remolding Orthoses to restore effected infants cranium to a more balanced, “normal” shape.

Brachycephaly: Proportional Deformities

Not all babies who need cranial remolding have an asymmetrical head shape, brachycephaly and scaphocephaly are both proportional deformities that may require cranial remolding treatment. Average cranial proportion is the head being 1/3 longer than wide. When a baby’s cranial proportion is outside of 2 standard deviations from this norm, cranial remolding may be indicated. Brachycephaly is when the head is wider than it is long and scaphocephaly is the opposite, when the head is much longer than the “normal” proportion. The helmet works in the same fashion to resolve these anomalies as with Plagiocephaly, by holding the high points and allowing growth in the low areas.

Craniosynostosis

Craniosynostosis is a premature fusion of one or more sutures of the infant skull. There are several sutures in the skull at birth that are mobile to allow for the journey through the birth canal. These sutures all fuse at different times through cranial facial development, when one or more of these sutures fuses too soon then growth can only occur at the still mobile suture lines, thus creating abnormal proportion and symmetry of the cranium and face. When craniosynostosis is the diagnosis some of these children may require surgery to correct the fused suture and reshape the calvarium. Of the children who do require surgery some may need post-op helmet treatment to guide future growth and retrain the cranial growth pattern. SCOPe Orthotics and Prosthetics, Inc.’s helmet practitioners are all experienced with post-operative helmet treatment for all types of craniosynostosis and are sensitive to the families concerns following surgery. Our helmet practitioners work with the surgeons to achieve the best possible clinical outcomes and it is our standard of care to provide surgeons with a pre and post-op scan along with follow-up scans throughout treatment to allow these highly specialized physicians to track their patients’ cranial growth.