Fontanelle | |
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![]() The skull at birth, showing the anterior and posterior fontanelles | |
![]() The skull at birth, showing the lateral fontanelles | |
Details | |
Identifiers | |
Latin | fonticuli cranii |
MeSH | D055762 |
TA98 | A02.1.00.027 |
TA2 | 431 |
FMA | 75437 |
Anatomical terminology |
A fontanelle (or fontanel) (colloquially, soft spot) is an anatomical feature of the infant human skull comprising soft membranous gaps (sutures) between the cranial bones that make up the calvaria of a fetus or an infant.[1] Fontanelles allow for stretching and deformation of the neurocranium both during birth and later as the brain expands faster than the surrounding bone can grow.[2] Premature complete ossification of the sutures is called craniosynostosis.
After infancy, the anterior fontanelle is known as the bregma.
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