[marthavmommy]

I just came from the dr. and they are concerned that my 16 mos old FD's head is too large - 'off the charts' Also she isn't walking yet. So they want to do a head CT scan. WHat could that mean?

Martha

PS we are hoping to adopt her. (no matter what it could be)

[SuzBerg]

I'm sorry I don't know the answer to your question. Hopefully someonelse here will read it and have some ideas for you. Perhaps the CT will give you some indicators. I just wanted to let you know we are thinking of you and offer some support!

[pwheatle]

They will be looking for hydrocephaly and macrocephaly and abnormalities in general of the brain.

Trica

[cjhawk38]

Hydrocephalus is a build up of spinal fluid in the brain that causes the head to be larger then it should. If it is determined that it is hydrocephalus a VP shunt is placed in the brain allowing the fluid to be drained from the brain and absorbed in the abdominal cavity.

[tlmerrie]

I am an adoptive parent and have worked with children with both shunts and macrocephaly. You've gotten some good information so far. But it could be minor to something severe, so just get the tests done ASAP.

Meanwhile, if it hasn't already been done by your doctor, get a prescription and a recommendation for a physical therapist to evaluate your child, and also potentially an occupational therapist while your at it. Choose a therapist who works with children your age. Then, you might want to go on-line and look up your states Early Intervention Program and learn about that. They also can give you advice and recommendations. All states have one, but they very widely from state to state.

I'm not a medical professional, but the only children I've seen be diagnosed with hydrocephalus and needing a VP shunt were diagnosed at birth or after a traumatic brain injury. Make sure that your pediatrician has lots of experience in dealing with special needs children if this is the case. Hopefully, it will just be macrocephaly with a gross motor delay or something like that.

Amy

[Luvbeingmommy]

When I took my fs to the children's clinic here, a different dr. saw him for the first time. She was alarmed by the size of his head. But since I have had him since birth (6days) she was able to go back and chart the size which was also off the chart at each dr. visit. He and his brother (also my fs) just have big heads. When we went for disclosure, the CW gave me a picture of the bfather -- same big head!
You said she isn't walking yet -- could there be another explanation for that?
I will be praying for you and your little one that it is the same -- just a large head.
Keep us posted.

[tybeemarie]

I was at a biomedical conference today, and I learned that some autistic children have big heads. They also can have developmental delays, so that might fit. The good news is, there are treatments available, so don't despair. Hope you get answers soon and that your baby is okay.

[chevyjewel]

Originally Posted by tlmerrie

snip...

I'm not a medical professional, but the only children I've seen be diagnosed with hydrocephalus and needing a VP shunt were diagnosed at birth or after a traumatic brain injury. Make sure that your pediatrician has lots of experience in dealing with special needs children if this is the case. Hopefully, it will just be macrocephaly with a gross motor delay or something like that.

Amy

I know it's been ages since the OP wrote this thread but I wanted to add my two cents, sorry this is the first time I saw this thread!

My biological daughter had a regular sized head at birth.
At her 6 month check there was a noticeable incline on her growth charts for head size. By a year old she was also "off the charts." She was then given a CT scan, and subsequently an MRI, she had to be sedated for both and we were petrified! They found a massive amount of CSF to the front of her brain. She had never once fallen, gotten konked in the head or been abused by anyone. I was a stay at home mom with no other children at the time and the only people that ever watched her were my parents so I KNEW. As long as it wasn't affecting her any other way besides head size her docs wanted to take a wait and see approach, and we all agreed that was best at the time. We were all hopeful that whatever it was that was causing the buildup would eventually resolve itself just fine.

At 15 months out of the blue she started spinning in circles, almost obsessively and she also started to lose some words in her vocabulary. We had the shunt placed within a week of that starting. The neurosurgeon found benign cerebro-spinal fluid to the front of her brain. For some reason it still wasn't draining like it was supposed to which was causing her head to grow even larger to the front and possibly putting pressure on her brain (which was likely causing her spinning and word loss). There are cases where there are blockages in the ventricles that route the CSF to the brain too, hence VP "Ventriculoperitoneal shunt." This was not her case but is another explination.

After the shunt was placed she went back to being the intelligent, sweet, focused darling she always was and to this day is far advanced in all areas of development compared to other children her age. We were perplexed about what caused the CSF build up in the first place still and after further investigation (and several pediatric neurologist/neurosurgeon specialist evaluations) they came to the conclusion that she may have something called Neurofibromitosis (specifically NF1). She has cafe-au-lait spots, lisch nodules and the macrocephaly which would confirm the diagnosis. Thank goodness she doesn't show any of the fibromas that make the disease debilitating but I wanted the OP to know there are countless other diagnosis besides abuse to explain what could be happening with your daughter. Unless blood is found in the CSF or actual brain damage is found on the MRI or CT scans the likely hood that this had anything to do with abuse is slim to none.

I hope you have found some answers since this was posted and best of luck to you and your family

[marthavmommy]

Jamie is fine, I never posted a follow up but the tests found nothing (and it was a story in itself to do the test!) they couldnt sedate her cuz she was a foster child and i really didnt want them to anyway so i got her up at four in the morning and took her there in time for her morning nap, then I laid kind of on her on the table and recited good night moon and got her to go to sleep on the table in enough time for them to do the test!

Anway as my signature proclaims we adopted Jamie later that summer and she is perfectly healthy other than slightly behind in gross motor skills. The reason I came back to this post is someone came to my blog from this post recently.

Good luck to all the FP's waiting on finalization, it is so worth it!

[mrsred]

Sometimes a big head is just a big head. My nephew had a really big head. Not an easy birth! And yes, doctors did often question the size of his head. As a toddler my mother used to add a slit and button to all his t-shirts because they couldn't pull them over his head. When he started playing t-ball they had to find an adult batting helmet for him, because at six years old his head wouldn't fit in the kid's batting helmet. James is now 23 years old. He was an honor student all through high school and is now an EMT. Maybe his head was so big to hold all his brains, I don't know.
Anyway, maybe it is something, maybe it is nothing, but don't let yourself get worked up. either way, you will be able to deal with it.

[screaminrieman]

My son has a huge head also. During his first year of life, He suffered from 2 skull fractures with the last being a result of being shaken. I forget the medical terms used but he was also diagnosed Hydrocephalos (sp?) but they never used a shunt. I adopted him at 4 and now at 11 he is finally growing into his head even though he does have a bigger head than most of his class/team mates. We almost use the same baseball cap size and I even have a big mellon. I also told him that his head is bigger than most because something has to hold in all of those brains.