Intracranial pressure, brain morphology and cognitive outcome in children with sagittal craniosynostosis

Background Patients with sagittal craniosynostosis are at increased risk of developing raised intracranial pressure (ICP) and neurocognitive deficiencies such as reduced attention, planning, speech, behavioural and learning disabilities. Aim To determine if the existing literature supports a correla...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child's nervous system 2020-04, Vol.36 (4), p.689-695
Main Authors: Thiele-Nygaard, Amalie E., Foss-Skiftesvik, Jon, Juhler, Marianne
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Neurosciences
Neurosurgery
Review Article
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background Patients with sagittal craniosynostosis are at increased risk of developing raised intracranial pressure (ICP) and neurocognitive deficiencies such as reduced attention, planning, speech, behavioural and learning disabilities. Aim To determine if the existing literature supports a correlation between elevated ICP and negative cognitive outcome in patients with sagittal craniosynostosis. Secondly, to investigate if the risk of developing neurocognitive deficiencies can be explained by changes in brain morphology in this patient category. Methods Systematic literature review in PubMed. Results A total of 190 publications were reviewed to determine a possible correlation between raised ICP and cognitive outcome, of which four were included in the study. No significant association was found. Forty-four publications on brain morphology in sagittal craniosynostosis were identified, of which 11 were included in the review. Clear evidence of morphologic changes in multiple areas of the brains of sagittal craniosynostosis patients was found in the literature. Conclusion The existing literature does not support an association between increased ICP and negative global cognitive outcome measures in patients with sagittal craniosynostosis. Brain morphology is altered in areas related to neurocognition and language in the same patient group. These changes might play a role in the development of neurocognitive deficiencies, though no definitive link is yet established, and further investigation is warranted.
ISSN:0256-7040
1433-0350
DOI:10.1007/s00381-020-04502-z