STRIP OSTECTOMY AND RADICAL OSTECTOMY IN THE TREATMENT OF CRANIOSYNOSTOSIS - AN EXPERIMENTAL ANIMAL STUDY

In an experimental animal study using rabbits, growth phenomena were s imulated which are comparable to craniosynostosis in humans. The radio logical and histological findings after surgical management of these a rtificial craniosynostoses by means of strip ostectomy or radical oste ctomy were compared with the findings obtained in control animals. Fol lowing strip ostectomy, bone defects were rapidly filled by the format ion of suture-like structures. After radical ostectomy, structures con sisting of connective tissue dispersed among islands of ossification w ere preserved over a considerable period of time, making it possible f or the calvarium to adapt to the fast-growing brain. In contrast to st rip ostectomy, after radical ostectomy growth of both the neurocranium and the viscerocranium, as well as the total sagittal growth of the s kull, were almost identical to the corresponding growth in the control animals.