Why and should the child have a pulsating fontanel?

If the fontanel pulses in the child - this is not always a cause for concern, most often this is normal. But there are diseases in which excessive pulsation of the fontanel is one of the symptoms. Therefore, you need to know some features of the structure and physiological features of fontanelles in children.

What is fontanel and why is it needed?

Each child is born with a fontanel on his head, but if the child is premature, then there may be several. This place is on the head of the child, where the bones of the skull are not yet tightly seated and at this point the connective tissue is located. Over time, the bones gradually fuse and form a strong skull, as in an adult. Why is this education on the head of a baby? During childbirth, with the passage of all planes of the pelvis, the head performs the most important function and regulates the process of passing the child through the birth canal. Therefore, the load and pressure on the skull bones is maximal. Rodnichki allow the bones of the skull to move freely along the generic paths, the bones can be found one on top of the other, which significantly reduces pressure and strain on the brain itself. In addition, during the first year of life, all the organs of the child grow and increase in size. This also applies to the brain that grows, and the bones of the skull grow in the same way. Therefore, the fontanel allows you to grow freely and grow in size. These are the main functions that a fontanel should perform in a newborn. At the child of the first year of life the fontanel is not yet closed, so that it is a kind of "mirror" of the general condition of the baby. Therefore, knowledge of the main features of the fontanel structure is very important even for the mother.

In the development of skull bones, the baby has only six fontanels, but a healthy full-term baby is born with only one anterior or large fontanel. It is located between the frontal bone and two parietal, so it has the irregular shape of the rhombus, and its size is about 25 millimeters in length and width. Measurement should be carried out not from the corners of the diamond, but from side to side. Such fontanel is located at the level of the bones of the skull, it should not strongly sink or pulsate. There are normal thresholds for closing the fontanelles, exceeding which indicates a possible problem. The great fontanel grows to the 12-18 months of the child's life, and if there are any violations, you need to think about pathology.

Speaking about the condition of fontanelles, it should be noted that if the general condition of the child is excellent, he does not act upright, sleeps and eats well, gaining weight, then changes in the nature and shape of the fontanel should not cause increased attention. In any other cases, you need to consult a doctor.

Changes fontanel, which indicate a pathology

Parents often have a question, should the child's fontanelle pulsate? It has already been said that this is the most delicate place on the head of a child, on which there are no bones. During cardiac contraction, the wave passes through all the vessels, including the vessels of the brain. Between the shells of the brain there is a liquid - a liquor. With a contraction of the heart, the shock wave extends to the vessels of the brain and to the cerebrospinal fluid, which can be seen as pulsating the fontanel. Because the child also pulsates fontanel - this is a reaction to cardiac contraction. But this blow is not as intense as a heart beat in its amplitude, so you can not see the pulsation visually. How should the child's fontanelle pulsate? Under normal conditions, it should pulsate in the same rhythm with a heartbeat. When the child is active or when he cries, sometimes one can not see such a pulsation, but during a quiet sleep you can see how easily the fontanelle pulsates, which can resemble a heartbeat.

If the child is strongly pulsating fontanel, which can be seen with the naked eye and this is accompanied by anxiety, you can think of pathology. In children of the first month of life, the ripening of the fontanel often occurs with increased intracranial pressure. This pathology can occur against the background of pathological births, caesarean section or simply hypoxia of the child in utero. This is accompanied by a violation of the tone of the nervous system and therefore the outflow of cerebrospinal fluid from the brain can be difficult. Symptoms of this is the strong pulsation of the fontanelle, and also its voltage. When a child is taken in his arms, he usually screams even more and the fontanelle is even more pulsating. It is these clinical features that indicate increased intracranial pressure. Symptoms for anxiety can only be a violation of the child's condition, his causeless cry and refusal to feed. In this case, a consultation of a neurologist is necessary.

Pulsating the fontanel can be one of the symptoms of hydrocephalus. This is a pathology in which the outflow of cerebrospinal fluid from the brain through the spinal canal is blocked. This is accompanied by a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid, an increase in the volume of the head, and also a large fontanel.

One of the causes of pulsation of the fontanel can be the pathology of the heart. Most often this occurs with congenital heart defects, when the defect is compensated by an increase in heart rate. It can be transmitted to the brain vessels and they can also pulsate violently. In any case, you need to focus on other clinical manifestations of pathology.

The pulsating of the fontanel in a child is a normal phenomenon that occurs because of the transfer of the shock force of the heart to the vessels when it is contracted. And if such a pulsation is rhythmic and corresponds to a pulsation in the carotid artery, then do not worry. And any other violations of the child's condition, the mother must see in time to consult with the doctor.

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