Craniofacial surgery

Craniofacial surgery is a surgical subspecialty of plastic surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery and otolaryngology-head & neck surgery that deals with congenital and acquired deformities of the head, skull, face, Neck, jaws and associated structures. Although craniofacial treatment often involves manipulation of bone, craniofacial surgery is not tissue-specific, i.e., craniofacial surgeons deal with bone, skin, nerve, muscle, teeth, etc.

Defects typically treated by craniofacial surgeons include craniosynostosis (isolated and syndromic), rare craniofacial clefts, acute and chronic sequellae of facial fractures, cleft lip and palate, micrognathia, Treacher Collins Syndrome, Apert's Syndrome, Crouzon's Syndrome, hemifacial microsomia and many others.

Training in craniofacial surgery usually consists of a surgical fellowship completed after a residency in either plastic surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, or otolaryngology.

The bones of the human skull are joined together by cranial sutures (see figure 1). The anterior fontanelle is where the metopic, saggital and coronal sutures meet. Normally the sutures gradually fuse within the first few years after birth. In infants where one or more of the sutures fuses too early the growth of the skull is restricted, resulting in compensation mechanisms which cause irregular growth patterns. Growth in the skull is perpendicular to the sutures. When a suture fuses too early, the growth perpendicular to that suture will be restricted, and the bone growth near the other sutures will be stimulated, causing an abnormal head shape. The expanding brain is the main stimulus for the rapid growth of the skull in the first years of life. Inhibited growth potential of the skull can restrict the volume, needed by the brain. In cases in which the compensation does not effectively provide enough space for the growing brain, craniosynostosis results in increased intracranial pressure.

...
Wikipedia