Hydrocephalus Bulging Fontanelle Images

A fontanelle or fontanel colloquially soft spot is an anatomical feature of the infant human skull comprising any of the soft membranous gaps between the cranial bones that make up the calvaria of a fetus or an infant.

Hydrocephalus bulging fontanelle images. Bulging eyes and an inability of the baby to look upward with the head facing. The diagnosis of an abnormal fontanel requires an understanding of the wide variation of normal. The anterior fontanelle is usually 4 6 cm in size at birth and closes at 4 26 months of age.

Hydrocephalus causes various combinations of the above listed symptoms and signs dependent on the causes and that also vary with age. A tense or bulging fontanelle occurs when fluid accumulates in the skull cavity or when pressure increases in the brain. Therefore a fontanelle that is level with the rim or bulging above the rim are both considered abnormal.

At birth an infant has six fontanels. Hydrocephalus which is excess brain fluid that s. Fontanelles allow for rapid stretching and deformation of the neurocranium as the brain expands faster than the surrounding bone can grow.

The anterior fontanel is the largest and most important for. Kaneshiro md mha clinical professor of pediatrics university of washington school of medicine. The following are the most common symptoms of hydrocephalus in babies.

Some of the most common causes of a bulging fontanel are. Common causes are hydrocephalus or increased intracranial pressure due to illness. The fontanelle should be palpated in the upright position and usually it is slightly depressed relative to the bony rim.

For instance a problem referred to as normal pressure hydrocephalus that mainly affects individuals who are older typically beginning with problems walking.