ABSTRACT
The significance and etiology of abnormal skull shape has been under investigation since
ancient times. Its pathophysiology was first described in 1851 by Virchow, who recognized that
“bony expansion ceases in a direction perpendicular to the synostosed suture, with compensa-
tory expansion in the opposite direction” (1). The premature closure of calvarial sutures is
referred to as craniosynostosis and occurs at an estimated frequency of 0.4/1000 births (2).
Nonsyndromic, or isolated, craniosynostosis predominates and is defined as suture fusion that
creates functional impairments related to local effects of the fusion.
