Expansion cranioplasty with jackscrew distracters for craniosynostosis and intracranial hypertension in transplanted osteopetrosis

Background: An 11-month-old boy with autosomal recessive infantile osteopetrosis presented, 7 months after bone marrow transplantation, with normal ventricular size and life-threatening intracranial hypertension due to pansynostosis. Methods: The cranial vault was expanded by using jackscrew distracters to upwardly advance the upper part of the calvarium. Results: The procedure achieved a 15-mm upward expansion of the cranial vault over a 15-day period, and the volume of the cranial vault was increased by 139 ml. All clinical manifestations of intracranial hypertension resolved. Conclusion: Cranial vault expansion with jackscrew distracters was successful in relieving intracranial hypertension in an infant with pancraniosynostosis complicating bone marrow transplanted malignant infantile osteopetrosis. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel