Early diagnosis and treatment of children with skull deformations. The challenge of modern medicine.

Skull deformations affect approximately 45% of newborn babies, the most common ones being: plagiocephaly, brachycephaly and scaphocephaly. The first symptoms can be observed 4 to 8 weeks after birth. The causes of skull deformation in newborns can be divided into congenital ones and those acquired after birth. An increase in the incidence of acquired head deformations can be attributed to the "BACK TO SLEEP" campaign, carried out in 1992 by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which was aimed to reduce the frequency of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) by placing babies to sleep in the supine position. By the year 2000, the number of SIDS incidents had been significantly lowered, however, it seems that this improvement was achieved at the cost of an increased number of head deformations [3, 4, 5, 34]. Skull deformations, if left untreated, may have consequences for the future. Plagiocephalic deformations may be associated with delayed intellectual and motor development [2]. Early recognition of the condition and the appropriate classification of each skull deformation are crucial for the success of the treatment [8]. Treatment choice depends on the etiology of the problem and its severity, as well as on the age of the infant. Available options include training for the parents/caregivers, physical therapy, custom head orthosis and surgical intervention.