Growing skull fracture in children

Eight cases of growing skull fracture had been diagnosed and managed between June 1993 and December 2003 in El-Matareya Teaching Hospital and the National Institute of Neuromotor System [NINMS] in Cairo. Of the eight cases, six were males and two females ranging in age from three months to six years at the time of injury. All the patients presented with a scalp mass which was pulsatile and may be translucent on illumination. Symptoms and signs were seizures in two cases, hemiparesis in three cases and dysphasia in one case. The most common location was the parietal or either the fronto-parietal or the paritooccipital regions. The extent of the dural defect was always greater than that of the bony defect. Gliotic tissue was present in all the patients. Duraplasty was performed in all cases, cranioplasty was performed also for all patients to protect the underlying brain tissue. Follow up period was 4-30 months with a mean of 16 months for the evaluation of the results. Four cases were neurologically intact and four had neurological deficits