DOCTOR'S HOUSE CALL

"Dolichocephaly" - January, 2005


Dr. James Reilly is a board certified pediatrician practicing on Long Island New York. He attended New York University for his undergraduate training. His medical degree was obtained at The SUNY HSC @ Brooklyn. He went on to do his pediatric residency at Albert Einstein at Montefiore where he was also Chief Resident. While there he was a part of an exchange program with Beijing Childrens' Hospital in China. Touring the nursery filled with unwanted female children helped to spark his interest in international adoption.

Over the years Dr. Reilly has worked with many children adopted from overseas and has a special interest in this area. These areas include Central America, Colombia and China.

Adoptiondoctors.com is an innovative International Adoption Private Practice dedicated to helping parents with the complex pre-adoption medical issues. All medical interactions are performed via, e-mail, express mail, telephone and fax. There is no need to make a live appointment or travel outside of you hometown. For families that live in Long Island New York, Post-Adoption general care can be performed by Dr. George Rogu or Dr. James Reilly in their Adoption friendly, Private Medical practice.
For more info: visit www.adoptiondoctors.com or call them at 631-499-4114.

---

"Dolichocephaly"

Dolichocephaly is caused by fusion of the growth plate in the skull while the child is developing (craniosynostosis). It is the most common form of this abnormality, with an incidence of 1 in 5000. It is more common in boys (80%). It is sporadic and often causes difficulties during labor because of cephalopelvic disproportion.

Dolichocephaly is identified by the characteristic prominent occiput, a broad forehead, and a small or absent anterior fontanel. (Boat-shaped skull with a markedly reduced bitemporal diameter but increasing head circumference) that crosses growth percentile lines during the first few months of life. A palpable ridge can be felt along the growth plate between the anterior fontanelle and junction of the lambdoid sutures in the back of the head. This is difficult to visualize but imagine what happens to skull growth if the middle part decided not to grow but everything else did and basically this is the shape the skull assumes.

Prospective parents of children with dolichocephaly should understand that cosmetics are the only issue. Children with this abnormality usually have no other problems medically although there had been questions of neurologic issues in older medical literature; this is no longer thought to be the case. Affected children who do not undergo cosmetic surgery will usually face social problems due to their abnormal appearance. Most parents in my experience opt to have this surgery despite the risk, (it is a heavy duty surgery), because the cosmetic result without surgery is so poor. There is little doubt that a child that does not have this surgery will face a world of challenges socially.

The earlier on has the surgery the better, it usually involves a less traumatic procedure and better cosmetic result. Once a child is older than 9mo it becomes a more technically challenging procedure for the operating surgeons.

Addendum: The information and advice provided is intended to be general information, NOT as advice on how to deal with a particular child's situation and or problem. If your child has a specific problem you need to ask your pediatrician about it -- only after a careful history and physical exam can a medical diagnosis and treatment plan be made.

---

* Please note: This work product is subject to copyright and may not be reprinted without permission of The Welcome Garden and it's author. Contributors have agreed that the written product may remain onsite permanently, in accordance with our policies.

INFO@WELCOMEGARDEN.COM

www.welcomegarden.com