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Published on: November 4, 2025
Visuomotor Function in School-Age Children with Single-Suture Craniosynostosis
Erin R Wallace1, Brent R Collett, Kathleen Kapp-Simon
1*Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA; †Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; ‡Cleft-Craniofacial Center, Shriner's Hospital for Children, Chicago, IL; §Craniofacial Center, Department of Surgery, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL; ‖Department of Clinical and Translational Research, The Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, MA; ¶Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA; **Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA.
Children with single-suture craniosynostosis (SSC) show persistent deficits in manual dexterity into school age. However, their visual processing skills are comparable to peers without SSC, suggesting targeted fine-motor assessments for school readiness.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric neurology
- Developmental psychology
- Craniosynostosis research
Background:
- Single-suture craniosynostosis (SSC) is associated with poorer visuomotor function in young children.
- Previous research is limited by small sample sizes and lacks data on long-term outcomes into school age.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare visuomotor function in school-aged children with and without single-suture craniosynostosis (SSC).
- To investigate the persistence of visuomotor deficits associated with SSC into elementary school years.
Main Methods:
- A case-control study involving 179 children with SSC and 183 controls.
- Visuomotor function assessed using NEPSY-II Arrows, Purdue Pegboard Test, and Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test.
- Statistical analysis using linear regression, adjusted for covariates.
Main Results:
- Children with SSC demonstrated poorer performance across all visuomotor measures compared to controls.
- The most significant differences were observed in manual dexterity (Purdue Pegboard Test).
- Visuomotor deficits were generally small in magnitude for other measures, with no significant differences in visual processing.
Conclusions:
- Children with single-suture craniosynostosis (SSC) experience lasting deficits in manual dexterity.
- Visual processing abilities in children with SSC are comparable to their peers without SSC.
- Recommend assessing fine-motor skills for school readiness in children with SSC.
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