children s health issues
Microcephaly
Introduction
Microcephaly is an abnormally small head. Often the head is small because the brain is small and abnormally developed. Microcephaly can be caused by many disorders, including genetic abnormalities, infections, and brain defects, or can sometimes run in families. Newborns with severe microcephaly usually have symptoms of brain damage. Diagnosis is made before birth by doing ultrasound tests or after birth by measuring the head circumference. Doctors usually do imaging tests to look for brain abnormalities and sometimes blood tests to look for a cause. Because microcephaly can range from mild to severe, treatment options can range as well. Early intervention may be especially helpful. (See also Overview of Brain and Spinal Cord Birth Defects .) The size of the head is typically determined by the size of the brain. Thus, decreased growth of the brain, or part of the brain, is the cause of microcephaly. Microcephaly can occur alone or in combination with other major birth defects and can be present at birth or develop later in infancy. Microcephaly is not a common condition. 