Is It Possible To Diagnose Faster Brain Growth Than Skull?

Posted on Thu, 26 Mar 2015

Question: My step son at the age of 4-5 years was diagnosed that his brain grew faster than his skull. He is now 35 years old. Would it be possible to determine if this happened bfore the age of 22?

Answered by Dr. Vivek Chail (13 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Comparison of old and new brain scans might help in determination

Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXX,
Thanks for writing in to us.

I have read through your query in detail.
It is understood that

1. Your step son is right now 35 years old
2. His brain growth was found to be more than the skull growth at 4 years of age
3. You wish to clarify if this happened before he attained 22 years

My observations are as given below

Brain growth relative to skull growth can be appropriately measured by doing imaging studies like CT scan or MRI scan.

I am not to certain if your step son has brain scan report done when he was 4 or 5 years old

If he has got any brain scan done around 22 years age then this fact can be verified from the scan report which should be compared with a recent scan done at 35 years age.

The skull usually stops growing after 21 years of age in most people and any further growth beyond that is abnormal.

Hope this answers your question. Please feel free to correct any oversight in my interpretation of your problems and discuss them in detail as per your requirements.

Hope your query is answered.
Do write back if you have any doubts.

Regards,
Dr.Vivek

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar