Cranial vault expansion by distraction osteogenesis.

Object: The object of this report is to present a conceptual and technical approach for expanding the cranial vault, by distraction osteogenesis, in patients with craniocephalic disproportion secondary to pancraniosynostosis and in patients with complex syndromic craniofaciosynostoses undergoing operations for aesthetic improvement.

Methods: The clinical characteristics, techniques used, outcome and complications for all patients who underwent cranial vault expansions with distraction osteogenesis in Children's Hospital of Denver were reviewed.

Results: Twenty-six cranial vault expansions were done in 24 patients.

Expansion cranioplasty with jackscrew distracters for craniosynostosis and intracranial hypertension in transplanted osteopetrosis.

Background: An 11-month-old boy with autosomal recessive infantile osteopetrosis presented, 7 months after bone marrow transplantation, with normal ventricular size and life-threatening intracranial hypertension due to pansynostosis.

Methods: The cranial vault was expanded by using jackscrew distracters to upwardly advance the upper part of the calvarium.

Results: The procedure achieved a 15-mm upward expansion of the cranial vault over a 15-day period, and the volume of the cranial vault was increased by 139 ml.