[Spiral CT evaluation of the craniosynostoses]

Craniosynostoses are defined as the premature closure of one or more sutures of the cranial bones. The resulting craniofacial deformities may be associated with neurologic complications owing to the disproportion between the growing brain and the limited content of the intracranial cavity. Plain skull radiographs are often contributive to the diagnosis. However, they may not be sufficient to detect early cases and to properly evaluate the more complex cases. Computed tomography has been proved to be more efficient in the pretherapeutic evaluation. The authors present here their results in the spiral computed tomographic evaluation of primary and syndromic craniosynostosis, based on a prospective series of 26 patients. The radiologic findings are presented. They have been found here to be similar to those previously described on sequential acquisitions. Spiral computed tomography was found to provide better information than did plain radiographs in 5 cases. The value of the helical acquisition as well as tridimensional reconstructions are discussed.