Plagiocephaly

**Plagiocephaly** is a birth defect that causes changes in the shape of the head in children and adolescents. As a result of this defect, the bones of the skull are displaced relative to each other, which leads to the appearance of asymmetrical facial features, scoliotic posture and improper walking.

The shape of the skull is determined based on its physical structure and the location of its landmarks. Plagiocephaly affects about 5% of infants, of which approximately 75% are boys. This defect manifests itself in the form of a forward or backward tilt of the skull. As a rule, head tilt is caused by volumetric pathological changes in the cranial bone itself, such as dysplasia or other congenital anomalies.

**Symptoms of plagiocephaly**

Plagiocephaly is easy to recognize. Patients may have persistent changes in head angle, facial asymmetry, and problems with posture and gait.

In newborns, plagiocephalic deformity is characterized by the presence of the following signs:

small round head with a wide forehead; displacement of the eyes, closed by drooping upper eyelids; an asymmetrical chin, not connected to the jaw, directed at an angle to the face itself; possible inclination of the ears in one direction or another; at the age of 6-12 months, symptoms appear in the form of incorrect eye position (discontinuity towards the temples) and the inability to occupy a sitting position. If a child continues to have torticollis after reaching 3 years of age,

Plagiocephaly is a congenital abnormality of the development of the skull and brain, in which one of its sides protrudes or sinks more than the other. Such cases are very rare, and according to statistics, ten children are born with this diagnosis per thousand. And this pathology is the only defect of the skull among those common in newborns. It is fundamentally important in clinical practice that this disease does not occur due to the fault of the parents. Plagiocephalics are people with an atypical appearance and brain pathology at the same time.

Plagiocephalization is a change in the shape of the skull, in which one of its halves deviates from the vertical axis. Most often this happens when the baby's head is directed toward one of the pelvic shoulders during labor. In normal condition, the baby's heads touch each other, and the bones of the skull are symmetrically curved. With this structure, the shape of the head is smoothed, however, no irregularities are observed on the skull.