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Microcephaly - Overview

Definition of Microcephaly:

Microcephaly is a condition in which a person's head is significantly smaller than normal for their age and sex, based on standardized charts. Head size is measured as the distance around the top of the head.

Considerations:

Microcephaly most often occurs because the brain fails to grow at a normal rate. Skull growth is determined by brain growth. Brain growth takes place while in the womb and during infancy.

Conditions that affect brain growth can cause microcephaly. These include infections, genetic disorders, and severe malnutrition.

Common Causes:

These conditions cause microcephaly:

Cornelia de Lange syndrome
Cri du chat syndrome
Down syndrome
Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome
Seckel syndrome
Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome
Trisomy 13
Trisomy 18

These additional conditions may indirectly cause microcephaly:

Uncontrolled phenylketonuria (PKU) in the mother
Methylmercury poisoning
Congenital rubella
Congenital toxoplasmosis
Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV)
Use of certain drugs during pregnancy, especially alcohol and phenytoin
Malnutrition

Skull of a newborn

Microcephaly

Ultrasound, normal fetus - ventricles of brain

Reviewed last on: 11/18/2009
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Kinsman SL, Johnston MV. Congenital anomalies of the central nervous system. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 592.

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