Growing Skull Fractures of Childhood

FRACTURE of the skull occurring in infancy or childhood ordinarily heals without difficulty. Rarely, however, such a fracture enlarges progressively to form a permanent cranial defect. Common features that constitute this disorder serve to identify it as a unique entity. Impor t an t clinical and pathological observations, particularly those reported before the turn of the century, have not been appreciated in recent case reports dwelling on various aspects of this syndrome. Consequently, we have made a comprehensive survey of world li terature in an effort to clarify the clinical picture and gather together common features tha t bear on pathogenesis. In addition, personal observations on a series of 5 cases are presented.