Symptomatic large parietal foramina

A mother and her two children with large parietal foramina were studied with plain roentgenograms and computed tomography. The mother's comments convinced us that the bilateral defects in the children evolved from a single midline opening via median ossification. The children had recurrent bouts of unexplained headaches and vomiting. Gentle pressure over the defects and combining of the overlying hair produced local pain and violent headaches in all three patients. These characteristic symptoms as well as other clinical problems associated with this anomaly are discussed.