Medical Encyclopedia

Medical Encyclopedia

Large fontanelles (lateral view)

Large fontanelles (lateral view)

A wide fontanelle occurs when the fontanelle is larger in size than expected for the age of the baby. Slow or incomplete ossification of the skull bones is most often the cause of a wide fontanelle.

Update Date: 11/14/2007

Updated by: Deirdre O’Reilly, MD, MPH, Neonatologist, Division of Newborn Medicine, Children’s Hospital Boston and Instructor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.

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