Parietal cephaloceles: radiographic and magnetic resonance imaging evaluation.

Three patients with parietal cephaloceles underwent evaluation and treatment at Duke University Medical Center between 1984 and 1987. All presented within the first 2 years of life with painful swelling near the vertex of the head. All patients had skull films and computed tomography, and two underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). All 3 children had associated hindbrain deformities; two with Dandy-Walker malformation, the third with a Chiari II malformation. Each child eventually developed hydrocephalus. MRI is the procedure of choice to evaluate these patients, providing direct sagittal imaging of the posterior fossa and craniocervical junction, and displaying communication of the cephalocele with intracranial structures as well as associated venous vascular anomalies.