The large head with which the baby is born is striking in its size. In a full-term baby, it accounts for ¼ of the whole body, in a premature baby - about a third, and in an adult - only an eighth. Such a large head in a child is explained by the predominant development of his brain.
Children can be born with a different shape of the head, while its dimensions are generally accepted: in full-term girls, the head circumference is on average 34 cm, and in boys it is almost 35. In healthy newborns, the brain skull is larger than the facial skull, since the bones are still ungrown. Gradually, they grow together and form seams, and the overgrown soft patches are called fontanelles.
But sometimes it happens that children are born with an abnormally enlarged head, which is also often asymmetric. At the same time, the frontal tubercles protrude noticeably, and the eyeballs are enlarged and protruded. Such symptoms indicate a dangerous disease - hydrocephalus.
What is hydrocephalus?
This is a disease caused by the accumulation of fluid in the brain of a child. This disease is popularly called dropsy of the brain. As a rule, this disease is caused by an infectious disease that the mother suffered during pregnancy. Also, the disease may appear as a result of previous meningitis, intoxication or a head injury. The consequence of these troubles in a child due to illness can be a big head. The disease also leads to an increase in pressure inside the skull, to neurological disorders, the occurrence of seizures and a decrease in vision and intellectual abilities.
The big head, of course, is not an absolute indicator of hydrocephalus. For example, if one of the parents of the child also has a large head, then this indicates normal heredity. The main symptom of a baby's hydrocephalus is a large head, that is, its accelerated growth. Therefore, if such changes are observed, an urgent examination is necessary, according to the results of which the diagnosis is confirmed or refuted.
Signs of hydrocephalus
The first signs of the disease are an enlarged fontanel, which does not close by the age of three. Norm - by the year. The bones become thinner, the forehead becomes disproportionate, huge, with a well-visible venous network. Gref's symptom is observed (the upper eyelid lags behind when the eyeball moves down). Due to the disease, the baby lags behind in psychomotor development, cannot hold his head, does not get up and does not play. If, nevertheless, the diagnosis is confirmed, then the sooner qualified treatment begins, the less consequences there will be in the future. Typically, hydrocephalus is treated surgically, during which surgeons remove cerebrospinal fluid from the ventricles of the brain to other cavities of the body.
Microcephaly
Another serious deviation in the development of the child is microcephaly. With this disease, the baby also has a large head. But its circumference is only 25 cm, without fontanelles. The front part of the skull is much larger than the brain, since the anomaly lies in a decrease in the size of the brain. Like hydrocephalus, this disease can develop before the baby is born, as a result of a developmental disorder of the baby inside the womb.