Now for the not-so-good news. A 3D image of her skull was created from the CT scan and we learned that the metopic suture has completely fused (in addition to the sagittal suture). This is called craniosynostosis. For those of you that have missed my previous briefs on the condition...here is a quick overview:
Craniosynostosis is the early fusion of one or more of the sutures (specialized joints between skull bones that enable expansion of the skull during normal brain growth) between the bony plates of the skull.
When the sutures fuse too early, the skull cannot grow normally. Babies with craniosynostosis generally have abnormally shaped skulls. The shape depends on which sutures are affected.
This news did not come as a surprise. We had seen that the skull was starting to fuse at her last CT scan in April. The closing of the metopic suture explains Elisabeth's very small, flat forehead. Because it can't grow forward or up, her brain has pushed out towards the back of her skull where there isn't resistance. This has given her a rather cone shaped head.
So the next step for us is to head over to the craniofacial center at Seattle Children's Hospital. We will meet with the craniofacial plastic surgeon and get her reconstruction surgery scheduled. Hopefully it will be sometime before school starts (aren't I terrible, wanting to plan my baby's brain surgery around the kindergarten schedule??.....oh well).
Happy Thursday!
