Transient hydrocephalus can be temporarily treated with an external ventriculostomy or lumbar drain. These temporary drainage systems allow constant monitoring of the amount and character of CSF drainage, which can…
Symptomatic hydrocephalus is subdivided into obstructive and nonobstructive etiologies. Obstructive hydrocephalus is due to blockage of CSF flow by a congenital malformation, such as aqueductal stenosis or suprasellar arachnoid cyst,…
In the adult brain, the two mature cerebral hemispheres surround the lateral ventricles. These two ventricles, the largest of the ventricular chambers, have three extensions into distinct regions of the…
The central sulcus defines two essential functional regions. On the anterior bank is the precentral gyrus, the location of the primary motor cortex. Neurons of the primary motor cortex send…
Caput succedaneum, an edematous swelling that may be hemorrhagic, is seen in vaginal deliveries. It may transilluminate, is soft, pits, is usually at the vertex over suture lines, and resolves…
Periventricular-intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) originates in the germinal matrix near the lateral ventricles and typically is observed in infants born preterm before 34 weeks’ gestation (Plate 1-12). In preterm infants, the…
Nonsyndromic craniosynostosis occurs much more frequently than syndromic. The most common premature closure occurs in the sagittal suture, which leads to scaphocephaly, dolichocephaly, or elongated head. The next most common…
At 49 days of age (see top, Plate 1-9), the brain and spinal cord undergo further bending that situates both appropriately in the developing head and trunk. The cephalic flexure…
Cutaneous stigmata of spina bifida occulta include dimples, dermal sinuses, subcutaneous lipomas, tufts of hair, or hemangiomas. Cutaneous lesions may occur in isolation, or herald an underlying tethered cord due…
A far more devastating variant of spina bifida aperta is myelomeningocele, in which the spinal cord or nerve roots, or both, protrude through the posterior bony and cutaneous defects due…
