THE EFFECTS OF FRONTO-PARIETO-SQUAMOSAL SUTURE FUSION ON CRANIAL GROWTH - AN EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY

Craniosynostoses have been known for at least 20 centuries, but their etiopathogeneses are still unclear. There are three main theories to e xplain the etiology of craniosynostosis, Moss's theory being the most popular. According to Moss, the development of the neurocranial form i s viewed as an integration of the growth of the skull base, the calvar ial bones, the meninges, and the enclosed brain. Experimental studies, however, are generally focused on cranial vault suture synostosis. Th is study aims to demonstrate the effects of cranial base synostosis by performing fronto-parieto-squamosal suture fusion. This fusion affect ed the whole cranial configuration. These effects were more prominent closer to the cranial vault, increasing at the anterior facial height and the lower facial length, reflected by ventral dislocation of the t otal face, and increasing of the kyphosis at the cranial base. It has also been demonstrated that synostosis of a junction point near the cr anial base affects the vault and the base simultaneously. Any approach that tries to treat the cause, and not the symptom, of synostosis mus t, then, be based on an understanding of how cranial growth occurs and of how sutural growth processes are related to the totality of crania l growth.