Anthropometric Changes of Skull in the Child with Neuropsychic Deficiency

Children with mental retardation present certain cranial dysmorphisms. The author has studied the extent to which these dysmorphisms are characteristic to these children. The studies were carried out on 110 children with mental retardation aged between 4 and 18 years old and on a witness batch (control group) made up of 101 neuropsychically healthy children aged 4-18. The cranial perimeter, anteroposterior diameter, biparietal diameter were significantly decreased in the children with mental retardation as compared with the witness batch, in an inverse relationship with the deficit severity. The parameters of the viscerocranium, the distance between tragus and glabella presented a harmonious development, in a slower rate than for the witness batch. The children with neuropsychic deficiency present a relative microcephaly corresponding to the severity of the mental retardation. The viscerocranium develops independently of neurocranium and of the mental retardation severity.