What causes craniosynostosis?
Craniosynostosis occurs in one out of 2,200 live births and affects males slightly more often than females. Craniosynostosis is most often sporadic (occurs by chance). In some families, craniosynostosis is inherited in one of two ways: • autosomal recessive Autosomal recessive means that two copies of the gene are necessary to express the condition, one inherited from each parent, who are obligate carriers. Carrier parents have a one in four, or 25 percent, chance with each pregnancy, to have a child with craniosynostosis. Males and females are equally affected. • autosomal dominant Autosomal dominant means that one gene is necessary to express the condition, and the gene is passed from parent to child with a 50/50 risk for each pregnancy. Males and females are equally affected. Craniosynostosis is a feature of many different genetic syndromes that have a variety of inheritance patterns and chances for reoccurrence, depending on the specific syndrome present. It is important for the ch
