1. Deformational brachycephaly in supine-sleeping infants.
- Author
-
Graham JM Jr, Kreutzman J, Earl D, Halberg A, Samayoa C, and Guo X
- Subjects
- Female, Head Protective Devices, Humans, Infant, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Plagiocephaly, Nonsynostotic physiopathology, Sleep physiology, Treatment Outcome, Plagiocephaly, Nonsynostotic therapy, Skull abnormalities, Supine Position physiology
- Abstract
Objectives: Medical dictionaries and anthropologic sources define brachycephaly as a cranial index (CI = width divided by length x 100%) greater than 81%. We examine the impact of supine sleeping on CI and compare orthotic treatment with repositioning., Study Design: We compared the effect of repositioning versus helmet therapy on CI in 193 infants referred for abnormal head shape., Results: Eighty percent of the infants had a pretreatment CI > 81%. Their initial mean CI at mean age 5.3 months was 89%, and after treatment, their mean CI was 87% (+/-2 SE = 0.9%) at mean age 9.0 months. For 92 infants with an initial CI at or above 90%, their initial mean CI of 96.1% was reduced to a mean of 91.9%., Conclusions: Post-treatment CI was 86% to 88%, CI in neonates delivered by cesarean section was 80%, and CI in supine-sleeping Asian children was 85% to 91%, versus 78% to 83% for prone-sleeping American children. Repositioning was less effective than cranial orthotic therapy in correcting severe brachycephaly. We recommend varying the head position when putting infants to sleep.
- Published
- 2005
- Full Text
- View/download PDF