Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Dec;13(4):248-252.
doi: 10.1177/1943387520965801. Epub 2020 Nov 18.

Distinguishing Between Lambdoid Craniosynostosis and Deformational Plagiocephaly: A Review of This Paradigm Shift in Clinical Decision-Making and Lesson for the Future

Craig B Birgfeld  1 , Carrie Heike  1
Affiliations

Distinguishing Between Lambdoid Craniosynostosis and Deformational Plagiocephaly: A Review of This Paradigm Shift in Clinical Decision-Making and Lesson for the Future

Craig B Birgfeld et al. Craniomaxillofac Trauma Reconstr. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

The cause of occipital asymmtery can be either extrinsic or intrinsic. Intrinsic causes include lambdoid craniosynsotosis. This condition is generally treated with cranial vault expansion surgery. Extrinsic causes include deformational plagiocephaly, which became commonplace after the "Back to Sleep Campaign" instituted in the 1980s by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The treatment of this condition is non surgical. Dr. Joseph Gruss was instumental in differentiating between these conditions and reducing the number of unnecessary surgeries that were previously being performed.

Keywords: Back to Sleep campaign; craniosynostosis; lambdoid craniosynostosis; positional plagiocephaly.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Posterior plagiocephaly. Diagrammatic summary of some of the differences between positional molding (left) and unilambdoid synostosis (right) from the vertex view. Reprinted with permission from Huang MH, Gruss JS, Clarren SK, Mouradian WE, Cunningham ML, Roberts TS, Loeser JD, Cornell CJ. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1996 Oct;98(5):765-74.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Posterior plagiocephaly. Differences in head shape from vertex view (arrows indicate directions of compensatory growth vectors). Top: positional molding: parallelogram-shaped head. Bottom: unilambdoid synostosis: trapezium-shaped head. Reprinted with permission from Huang MH, Gruss JS, Clarren SK, Mouradian WE, Cunningham ML, Roberts TS, Loeser JD, Cornell CJ. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1996 Oct;98(5):765-74.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

  • Non-syndromic craniosynostosis.
    Alperovich M, Tonello C, Mayes LC, Kahle KT. Alperovich M, et al. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2025 Apr 10;11(1):24. doi: 10.1038/s41572-025-00607-4. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2025. PMID: 40210850 Review.

References

    1. Mawji A, Vollman AR, Hatfield J, McNeil DA, Sauve R. The incidence of positional plagiocephaly: a cohort study. Pediatrics. 2013;132(2):298–304. - PubMed
    1. Ballardini E, Sisti M, Basaglia N, et al. Prevalence and characteristics of positional plagiocephaly in healthy full-term infants at 8-12 weeks of life. Eur J Pediatr. 2018;177(10):1547–1554. - PubMed
    1. Flannery AM, Tamber MS, Mazzola C, et al. Congress of neurological surgeons systematic review and evidence-based guidelines for the management of patients with positional plagiocephaly: executive summary. Neurosurgery. 2016;79(5):623–624. - PubMed
    1. Jones KL. Smith’s recognizable patterns of human malformation. vol sixth. philadelphia: Arch Dis Child. 2007;92(6):562.
    1. Graham JJ, Sanchez-Lara P. Smith’s Recognizable Patterns of Human Deformation. 4th ed Elsevier Health Sciences; 2015.

LinkOut - more resources