A study on causes and types of abnormal increase in infants' head circumference in kashan/iran
Ahmad Talebian1, Babak Soltani1, Alireza Moravveji2
1Department of Pediatrics, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
Insights
Familial megalencephaly is the most common cause of increased head circumference in infants. Most infants with this condition show normal development, highlighting the importance of considering family history.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Neurology
- Genetics
Background:
- Head circumference is a key indicator of infant brain growth.
- Abnormal head circumference, or macrocephaly, affects approximately 2% of infants and can signal various nervous system disorders.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the causes and clinical presentations of abnormally increased head circumference in infants.
- To identify the prevalence of different types of macrocephaly in a specific infant population.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 90 infants under two years old with enlarged head circumference.
- Data collection included medical history, physical examinations, growth chart analysis, and diagnostic imaging.
Main Results:
- Familial megalencephaly was the most frequent cause (58.8%), followed by hydrocephalus (33.4%).
- Males constituted 72% of the cases.
- Infants with familial megalencephaly often had normal fontanels (83%) and positive family history (90.6%), with normal motor development (100%).
Conclusions:
- Familial megalencephaly is the predominant cause of macrocephaly in infants, often presenting with normal physical and developmental assessments.
- Evaluating parental head circumference is crucial for accurate infant head circumference interpretation.
- Further diagnostic investigations, including brain imaging, are recommended for infants with abnormal physical findings or developmental delays.
Objective:
Head circumference is a valuable index of brain growth and its disturbances can indicate different disorders of nervous system. Abnormal increased head circumference (macrocephaly) is common and observed in about 2% of infants. In this study, the causes and clinical types of abnormal increase in infants' head circumference were investigated in Kashan, Iran.
Materials And Methods:
This cross-sectional study was performed on 90 infants less than 2 years of age with abnormal increase in head circumference in Kashan, during 2009- 2011. The data were collected by history taking, physical examination, growth chart, and imaging.
Results:
65 (72%) cases out of 90 infants were male and 25 ( 28%) cases were female. Fifty-three (58.8%) cases had familial megalencephaly, 30 (33.4%) had hydrocephalus, and other causes were observed in 7 (7.8%) cases. Eighty-three percent of Infants with familial megalencephaly and 50% with hydrocephalus had normal fontanels. In 90.6% of cases with familial megalencephaly, family history for large head was positive. Motor development was normal in 100% of cases with familial megalencephaly and 76.7% of hydrocephalic infants.
Conclusion:
Familial megalencephaly was the most common cause of macrocephaly in the studied infants, and most of them had normal physical examination and development, so, parental head circumferences should be considered in the interpretation of infant's head circumference and in cases of abnormal physical examination or development, other diagnostic modalities, including brain imaging should be done.
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