Call your health care provider if:

The health care provider usually finds macrocephaly during a routine well-baby exam.

What to expect at your health care provider's office:

The health care provider will take a medical history and will perform a physical examination.

Medical history questions may include:

• Time pattern
  • When did you first notice that the baby's head seemed large?
  • Does the baby's head size seem to be increasing faster in proportion to the growth of the body?
• Location
  • Does the head seem larger all over?
  • Is the head growing more in a front-to-back pattern or in a side-to-side pattern?
• Other
  • What other symptoms are present (especially changes in brain or nervous system functions)?

Physical examination may include repeated measurements of the head circumference over a period of time to confirm that the head circumference is significantly increased. In some cases a single measurement is enough to confirm a significant increase.

Diagnostic tests may vary depending on the suspected cause, but often include:

• Head CT scan
• MRI of the head

After seeing your health care provider:

If your health care provider diagnosed the cause of increased head circumference, you may want to note that diagnosis in your personal medical record.