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Do preterm infants always have flattened heads?
N Rutter1, W Hinchliffe, P H Cartlidge
1Department of Neonatal Medicine and Surgery, Nottingham City Hospital.
Insights
A soft mattress may reduce early head flattening in preterm infants. However, head shape issues in premature babies typically resolve by age 4, irrespective of neonatal mattress type.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Developmental pediatrics
- Infant health
Background:
- Premature infants often experience positional head flattening (plagiocephaly) in the neonatal period.
- Previous research suggested soft mattresses could mitigate this early head deformation.
- The long-term impact of neonatal sleep surfaces on infant head shape remained unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the long-term resolution of head flattening in very preterm infants.
- To determine if neonatal mattress type influences head shape development by early childhood.
Main Methods:
- A follow-up study included 31 infants born before 32 weeks' gestation.
- Infants' head shapes were assessed in the neonatal period and again at 3-4 years of age.
- Comparison was made between infants who used different types of mattresses in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Main Results:
- Head flattening observed in the neonatal period resolved in all infants by 3-4 years of age.
- Infant head shape at follow-up was similar to that of full-term controls.
- No significant difference in head shape resolution was associated with the type of mattress used during infancy.
Conclusions:
- Positional head flattening in very preterm infants typically resolves naturally by early childhood.
- The type of mattress used in the neonatal period does not appear to affect the long-term outcome of head shape.
- Neonatal interventions regarding mattress type may not be critical for correcting plagiocephaly in the long run.
Abstract:
It has previously been shown that a soft mattress lessens the degree of head flattening that occurs in preterm infants in the early weeks of life. A follow up study of 31 infants of < 32 weeks' gestation found head flattening had resolved by 3-4 years of age, regardless of the type of mattress used in the neonatal period, and the children had heads similar in shape to full term controls.