BACKGROUND Growing skull fractures are poorly understood complications
of pediatric skull fractures. METHODS A retrospective review of skull
fractures at our institution from 1980-1993 revealed 10 patients with
growing skull fractures. The age at injury ranged from 1-144 months,
with 9 of 10 patients being under one year of age. The etiology of the
se fractures included falls, motor vehicle accidents, and child abuse.
On average, growth of the fracture was diagnosed 14 months after the
initial injury. RESULTS Six patients have had magnetic resonance imagi
ng (MRI) with one demonstrating leptomeningeal cyst herniation, two ha
ving brain herniation, and three having both brain parenchyma and lept
omeningeal cyst herniation. All patients had malacic cortex underlying
the fracture, but there was no evidence of intracranial hypertension.
Nine patients have undergone craniotomy with excision of granulation
tissue and gliotic brain, dural repair, and cranioplasty using surroun
ding normal skull. There were no surgical complications or recurrences
. CONCLUSIONS Brain/leptomeningeal cyst herniation through a dural ren
t, without MRI evidence of increased intracranial pressure, implicates
physiologic growth and brain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pulsations as
the cause of fracture enlargement.