Isolated craniosynostosis: prenatal ultrasound of scaphocephaly with polyhydramnios

Craniosynostosis is an abnormal shape or dimension of the skull caused by premature closure of one or more skull sutures. It includes scaphocephaly, brachycephaly, oxycephaly, plagiocephaly, trigonocephaly, turricephaly, and a cloverleaf-shaped head. The only cases of craniosynostosis that have been reported concern fetuses with complex and marked craniosynostosis syndromes such as acrocraniofacial dysostosis, Apert's syndrome, Beare-Stevenson cutis gyratum syndrome, Calabro's syndrome, etc. Isolated or simple craniosynostosis, however, is a developmental anomaly rarely found on routine ultrasound examination. We present a case that was diagnosed as scaphocephaly with moderate polyhydramnios by prenatal ultrasound. No other structural anomaly was detected, and the karyotyping was normal. So isolated sagittal craniosynostosis was diagnosed prenatally and was confirmed by postnatal skull radiography as well as 3-dimensional computed tomography. The infant underwent bilateral parietal craniectomy at the age of 3 months. He obtained a good result with no mental problems 4 years after the operation. To our knowledge, this is the second report on the prenatal detection of an isolated form of craniosynostosis.