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Head Shape Clinic
Craniosynostosis, which affects approximately 1 in 2,500 newborns, requires timely and effective surgical intervention to reduce complication and improve outcomes. Studies from The National Institutes of Health suggest a rising prevalence over the past decade, perhaps related to changes in awareness, diagnosis ability, access to care and the fetal environment (maternal diabetes, smoking and constraint-related factors).
While craniosynostosis typically manifests as an abnormal head shape, most abnormal head shapes are not associated with craniosynostosis. The past several decades have simultaneously witnessed an increasing prevalence of deformational plagiocephaly, linked with the Back to Sleep Campaign in 1992, which encouraged healthy infants to sleep supine to reduce sudden infant death syndrome. Recent estimates suggest approximately 50 percent of infants will develop various degrees of deformations plagiocephaly. While craniosynostosis reflects a rarer pathologic condition often necessitating surgical intervention, deformational plagiocephaly does not. So, this may make you ask the question: When is abnormal head shape truly abnormal? Click here to continue to read about Children’s Wisconsin’s multidisciplinary Head Shape Clinic and other multidisciplinary clinics at Children’s Wisconsin featuring the Plastic Surgery team.
To Refer a Patient:
• Internal Referral within Children's Epic:
Place an ambulatory referral to Head Shape Clinic
• External referral in Epic:
Send to CHW NEUROSURGERY CLINICS, please note in comments section HEAD SHAPE CLINIC
• Fax a referral to Central Scheduling: (414) 607-5288
• Complete online form
Contact your Physician Liaison with any questions or concerns.