Baby girl first in Taiwan to get cranial traction device for rare disorder

Описание: A girl with a rare skull disorder has become the first in Taiwan to be treated with a metal device implanted in her head. The one-year-old, surnamed Wu, was diagnosed with a rare condition that caused her skull to join together too soon after birth. Typically, cases like hers require risky operations. The cranial device lets doctors correct her skull incrementally and safely. The girl''s mother says she''s responding well. This little girl was stricken with a rare condition shortly after birth. It deformed her brow ridge and skull, affecting the look of her face. When her mother realized something wasn’t quite right, she turned to a doctor and was told it was craniosynostosis.Ms. WuMotherWe discovered a slight convex curvature here. At first we did not know that this was the premature closing of her cranial sutures. The hospital where I gave birth didn’t catch it. When we did find out, we were quite surprised. Sad, too.The doctor explained to her that a baby’s skull has several cranial sutures. The frontal suture should close between seven to eight months of age. The others close later in life. If any of the sutures close prematurely, the brain won’t have the space to grow. This could raise pressure inside of the head and against the eyes. It could compress the respiratory tract, affect nerve development, and deform the child’s physical appearance, giving rise to psychosocial disorders.Lu Ting-chenChang Gung Memorial HospitalThe golden window of opportunity for brain development is when a child is less than a year old. During that time, the brain grows three times bigger. Before we had the option of a cranial traction device, rare cases of complex craniosynostosis could only be addressed with delayed surgery. You must wait to operate because baby skulls are still too thin.At 10 months old, the baby had a traction device installed in her skull. The device left two metal installations on either side of her head, which doctors rotated each day to correct her skull bones and expand the space in her head by more than 30%. The little girl is responding well, mom says. With time, her condition will be nothing but a faint memory that leaves her appearance and brain development unscathed.