[Increase in the incidence of occipital plagiocephaly]

The diagnosis and treatment of posterior plagiocephaly is one of the most controversial aspects of craniofacial surgery.

The purpose of this study is to describe a recent increase in the incidence of occipital plagiocephaly without synostosis in our hospital during the last 6 months. The shift in the referral patterns is roughly contemporaneous with the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations regarding infant sleep position. The temporal coincidence of this increase with the recommendation to avoid the prone sleeping position, to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, suggests a possible causal relationship. If the association is causal, education regarding the need of head position rotation coupled with that for sudden infant death syndrome should obviate positional occipital plagiocephaly.

The feature of true lambdoid synostosis versus those of deformational plagiocephaly secondary to positional molding are inadequately described in the literature and poorly understood; the differential diagnosis is important in relation to a conservative diagnostical and therapeutical intervention in patients with positional molding.