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Macrocephaly diagnosed during well child visits
Author(s) -
Yılmazbaş Pınar,
Gökçay Gülbin,
Eren Tijen,
Karapınar Esra,
Kural Bahar
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
pediatrics international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.49
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1442-200X
pISSN - 1328-8067
DOI - 10.1111/ped.13543
Subject(s) - medicine , macrocephaly , pediatrics , anthropometry , head circumference , medical record , hydrocephalus , population , child health , ultrasonography , pregnancy , surgery , birth weight , environmental health , biology , genetics
Background The measurement of head circumference ( HC ) provides valuable anthropometric data for a child's growth during well child visits. There are few studies on the characteristics of macrocephaly ( MC ) diagnosed during well child visits. The aim of this study was to identify the characteristics of children with MC diagnosed during the well‐child visits. Methods This descriptive clinical study was carried out in the well child unit of a medical faculty hospital. The health records of all children who were followed up between 2004 and 2014 were reviewed. The records of children with the diagnosis of MC were evaluated. All children with MC had cranial ultrasonography, measurement of parental HC , and biochemistry. The HC measurements were carried out until 3 years of age in the unit. Results Ninety of 9,758 children (0.9%) had the diagnosis of MC . Of these children, 61% were male. Mean age at diagnosis was 2.7 months. The majority of children (63.3%) had familial MC . The other leading findings were isolated MC and hydrocephalus: two of eight children with hydrocephalus had delayed neuromotor development. Conclusion MC was not rare in the present well child unit population. The evaluation of parental HC and cranial ultrasonography might be important for the differential diagnosis.