Growing skull fracture

Background: Growing skull fracture or craniocerebral erosion is a rare complication of linear skull fracture in childhood. It is characterized by progressive diastatic enlargement of the fracture line, which leads to a cranial defect, dural cleft, and cerebral herniation. It is presented as a soft pulsabile scalp swelling above the fracture, with a clear cranial defect.

Methods: In this paper we presented a patient, an 8-month-old boy with the growing skull fracture revealed four weeks after the injury. After the surgical treatment, the boy was in a good general condition without the presence of neurologic impairment.

Conclusions: Early recognition of craniocerebral erosion is very important. Timely detection prevents further progression of the disease and the evolution of neurological impairment. Surgery is the method of choice for treating a growing skull fracture.