NEURODEVELOPMENT AMONG INFANTS WITH DEFORMATIONAL PLAGIOCEPHALY

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中的一个 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源。子项目和 研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金， 因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为 研究中心，而研究中心不一定是研究者所在的机构。 变形性斜头畸形（DP）是指颅骨的不对称性，据信是由于外力塑造了婴儿颅骨的可塑性。可疑的致病因素包括产前因素（例如，子宫内约束），产后事件（例如，睡眠期间不变的定位）和/或潜在的神经病理学。 对DP儿童神经发育的初步研究发现了明显缺陷的证据，但方法学问题限制了对这些研究的解释;对这些发现的潜在解释尚不清楚。进一步的调查是必要的，以完善病因学的假设，并提供临床医生和家长的准确信息，神经发育相关的DP。有几个因素表明需要对这些问题进行相当直接的研究：DP的快速增加（和/或父母对这种情况的认识和担忧增加），相关药物治疗（头盔和颅面手术）的扩散，可预防的发育问题的可能性，以及与美国儿科学会“恢复睡眠”运动的因果关系。在这项为期5年的纵向单中心研究中，我们将招募250名DP婴儿和275名匹配的对照婴儿，从6岁到36个月进行随访。将使用MRI（n= 46）对DP病例亚组进行成像，并通过与另一项NIH资助的正常大脑发育研究共享数据与对照组进行比较。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Deformational plagiocephaly (DP) refers to cranial asymmetry believed to be attributable to external forces molding the malleable infant skull. Suspected causal factors include pre-natal factors (e.g., intrauterine constraint), post-natal events (e.g., invariant positioning during sleep) and/or underlying neuropathology. Initial studies of the neurodevelopment of children with DP have found evidence for significant deficits, but methodological problems limit the interpretation of these studies; potential explanations for such findings are unclear. Further investigation is necessary to refine etiological hypotheses and to provide clinicians and parents with accurate information regarding the neurodevelopmental correlates of DP. Several factors indicate the need for rather immediate study of these issues: the rapidly increasing rate of DP (and/or increasing awareness of and parental worry about the condition), the proliferation of associated medical treatments (helmets and craniofacial surgery), the possibility of preventable developmental problems, and the implication of causal association with the American Academy of Pediatrics "Back to Sleep" campaign. In this 5-year, longitudinal, single-center study, we will investigate these issues by recruiting 250 infants with DP and 275 matched controls, following them from age 6 to 36 months. A subgroup of DP cases will be imaged using MRI (n= 46) and compared to controls by sharing data with another NIH-funded study of normal brain development.