Oxycephaly, its manifestations and surgical treatment: A review of six cases

A retrospective review was undertaken of 6 cases of oxychepaly, a congenital deformity of the skull due to early fusion of multiple skull sutures, that were treated at Saitama Children's Medical Center over the past 10 years. Based on their physical manifestations, the patients, who were 3 to 9 years old, were divided one of the two following categories:a brachycephalic type, defined by a flattening of forehead and a shortening of the anterior skull base, or a harmonious type, defined by a good preservation of the normal skull contour and, minimal frontal flattening, if any. Because no patient manifested classical oxycephaly, in which the contour of the head is abnormally high and conical, and all patients were young, the surgery provided, with one exception, was mainly focused on correcting the skull's contour rather than on volume expansion of the skull's cavity. The exception involved a patient who showed symptoms of intracranial hypertension that was affecting participation in normal activities, so that the surgery was aimed at skull expansion and resulted in complete relief from these symptoms. Although the exact volume needed for adequate expansion could not be determined before this surgery, this requirement should be further studied based on the experience gained from future operations of this type.