Transillumination Detection of a Growing Skull Fracture

Abstract

\s=b\Transillumination is shown to be an effective device in the early diagnosis of enlarging skull fractures in children.(Am J Dis Child 131: [889][890][891][892] 1977) Transi l l umi nati on has been em¬ ployed in the diagnosis of large meningeal cysts associated with en¬ larging skull fractures occurring in early childhood.11 We report the case of an infant with an enlarging skull fracture due to cerebral herniation alone in which transillumination as¬ sisted in the early diagnosis of the defect. REPORT OF A CASEOur patient is an 8-month-old female infant who suffered a linear right parietal skull fracture at age 6 months in an auto¬ mobile accident. She was unconscious fol¬ lowing the accident and required resuscita¬ tion. Focal seizures of the left arm and leg were treated with intravenously adminis¬ tered diazepam. A left hemiplegia was then noted. The patient was hospitalized at From the