11 February 2012

Skull of a hydrocephalic child

Joseph Vimont and Engelman - “Skull of a Hydrocephalus Child”, from Traité de Phrénologie Humaine et Comparée, 1832 
Via the Scientific Illustration tumblr.

7 comments:

  1. First thought:
    "Oh! That poor mother! Wow!"

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    Replies
    1. That skull has a full set of teeth...it's much larger than it would have been at birth, since hydrocephaly continues to expand the skull due to increased intracranial pressure.

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  2. I need one of these skulls.

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  3. My son was born with hydrocephalus and had a shunt placed when he was 3 weeks old. My mother talked about when she was a child, one of the neighbor children having been a "water baby" who lived until about age 4. I am thankful every day for the progress of modern medicine.

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  4. I spent the last 2 years working as a pediatrician in Malawi, and the ward of the hospital I worked in had a whole bay reserved for hydrocephalic babies. High rates of meningitis (due to lack of pneumococcal and hemophilus immunizations) and the subsequent scarring/blockage of the aqueductal drainage system combined with the comple lack of any adequate treatment made it regrettably common there.

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  5. My daughter was born with hydrocephalus. Her head size was normal at birth but began to enlarge slowly over weeks. Here's a bit of history behind the development of 'shunts' to treat the condition and how Roald Dahl contributed:

    http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=179092

    Sal

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  6. my son Danny boy we called him had his head circumference at 60 cm so this is smaller than his skull was at birth...whew.imagine my fear before,during,afterwards...it drives loved ones insane.have the nerve to think ican do anything now after living thru those days.

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