Brain structure in sagittal craniosynostosis

Craniosynostosis, the premature fusion of one or more cranial sutures, leads to grossly abnormal head shapes and pressure elevations within the brain caused by these deformities. To date, accepted treatments for craniosynostosis involve improving surgical skull shape aesthetics. However, the relationship between improved head shape and brain structure after surgery has not been yet established. Typically, clinical standard care involves the collection of diagnostic medical computed tomography (CT) imaging to evaluate the fused sutures and plan the surgical treatment. CT is known to provide very good reconstructions of the hard tissues in the skull but it fails to acquire good soft brain tissue contrast. This study intends to use magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate brain structure in a small dataset of sagittal craniosynostosis patients and thus quantify the effects of surgical intervention in overall brain structure. Very importantly, these effects are to be contrasted with normative shape, volume and brain structure databases. The work presented here wants to address gaps in clinical knowledge in craniosynostosis focusing on understanding the changes in brain volume and shape secondary to surgery, and compare those with normally developing children. This initial pilot study has the potential to add significant quality to the surgical care of a vulnerable patient population in whom we currently have limited understanding of brain developmental outcomes.