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About Face

Treating Positional Plagiocephaly

By Teri Brown

Because of the increase in the number of plagiocephaly cases, more studies are being done on causes and treatment of the condition. According to Dr. Andrew Reisner, a Pediatric Neurosurgeon for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, the Craniofacial Team and the Orthotics and Prosthetic Department at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite are working on a number of studies.

"These studies include two exciting projects," says Dr. Reisner. "First, there is an ongoing study assessing how quickly children with mild to moderate plagiocephaly improve spontaneously with repositioning only. Second, there is a study assessing the value of a new device [that] assesses and measures the individual shape and deformity of the child's head using a laser scanner." The information from the laser scanner can be entered into a computer, which will generate a three-dimensional image of the patient's skull from which a helmet or band can be made, according to Dr. Reisner.

"This technique is very sensitive, accurate and allows the treatment to be highly individualized for that particular patient," he says. The best part about this particular method of obtaining a mold of the patient's head is that it is painless and well tolerated by the children.

Both Manias and Jones say neither of their children minded wearing the band, and both families are very pleased with the results.

"Dane actually missed the band when he graduated," says Manias. "We were thrilled with the progress he made. Banding him was the best decision we made as parents. We saw improvement within the first week of treatment, so we had high expectations. All those expectations were realized after three months in the DOC band."

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