ABSTRACT
Just as periodic assessments of height and weight represent important parameters of somatic growth in childhood, measuring the head circumference enables clinicians to assess the growth of the brain. The human brain grows from 400 g at birth to approximately 1,400 g at adulthood (brain size is smaller in women and larger in men). Early childhood is a dynamic time as 80% of the postnatal brain growth occurs during the first 2 years of life. Whereas fetal brain
growth is determined primarily by neuronal proliferation, postnatal growth occurs principally because of myelination and increased neuronal cell and neuropil volume. Genetic programing and disorders affecting brain growth have dramatic effects on the brain during this period of rapid growth. This chapter focuses on the diagnostic evaluation of children with macrocephaly, microcephaly and misshapen heads caused by positional deformation or craniosynostosis.
