ABSTRACT
The head is a closed box. Even in younger children, under the age of 18 months, in whom the fontanelle (soft spot) in the skull has not closed, the head is relatively unexpandable. Increases in the volume of the contents of the head, therefore, lead to increasing pressure within the skull. This in turn can lead to worsening damage to the brain, as there is a risk to the brain’s blood supply via collapse of small blood vessels by this high pressure.
