Intracranial volume measurement of metopic craniosynostosis.

The authors report 32 patients with nonsyndromic isolated metopic synostosis who have undergone evaluation of their intracranial volumes. Twenty-five were male and seven were female. The measured intracranial volumes were compared with normal age-corrected values established in the authors' unit, and any differences were noted. The authors found that, although there was a range of intracranial volumes, in the male patients, intracranial volumes were significantly smaller than those found in the normal population (P < 0.05). However, this result was not found in the smaller female sample. These results contrast with those of smaller earlier studies, but the authors conclude that intracranial volumes are smaller than average for age-corrected normal values; this finding highlights the need for volume expansion in conjunction with cranial reshaping.