Craniosynostosis: A Pictorial Review

Craniosynostoses are a mixed group of disorders affecting the pediatric skull, resulting from the early fusion of ≥1 cranial suture, leading to protean clinical manifestations. The radiologist must be familiar with nonsyndromic craniosynostosis, syndromic craniosynostosis and associated abnormalities, secondary craniosynostosis, and mimics of craniosynostosis, including deformational plagiocephaly. This review explores the radiologic and clinical presentation of these diseases as well as the imaging work-up, including screening radiography, ultrasound, CT, and MRI evaluation.

Learning Objective: To understand the various types of craniosynostosis and their classic imaging appearances through knowledge of basic cranial sutural anatomy and cranial growth patterns.