Abstract
Children with syndromic forms of craniosynostosis undergo a plethora of surgical interventions to resolve the clinical features caused by the premature fusion of cranial sutures. While surgical correction is reliable, the need for repeated rounds of invasive treatment puts a heavy burden on the child and their family. This study explores a non-surgical alternative using mechanical loading of the cranial bones to prevent or delay craniosynostosis and its effects.
We treated Crouzon syndrome mice before the onset of craniosynostosis by mechanical loading of cranial bones.
Cranial loading applied to the frontal bone caused partial normalisation of skull shape, reducing the typical brachycephalic appearance. This is underpinned by the delayed closure of the coronal suture and of the intersphenoidal synchondrosis.
This study provides a novel treatment alternative for syndromic craniosynostosis which has the potential to be an important step towards replacing, reducing or refining the surgical treatment of craniosynostosis patients.
Highlights
Mechanical loading of calvarial bone suspends craniosynostosis.
Loading effects on cranial base reduce midfacial hypoplasia.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
Minor edits only.