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What is the function of the fontanelle?
The fontanelles allow for growth of the brain and skull during an infant’s first year. There are normally several fontanelles on a newborn’s skull. They are located mainly at the top, back, and sides of the head. Like the sutures, fontanelles harden over time and become closed, solid bony areas.
What are the two major functions of the Fontanels?
Answer and Explanation: The fontanels serve two functions during childbirth and baby development. During childbirth, the flexible sutures allow the infant’s skull to flex as… See full answer below.
What is the importance of fontanelles in obstetrics?
The sutures and fontanelles are needed for the infant’s brain growth and development. During childbirth, the flexibility of the sutures allows the bones to overlap so the baby’s head can pass through the birth canal without pressing on and damaging their brain.
What does fontanelle mean in anatomy?
There are 2 fontanelles (the space between the bones of an infant’s skull where the sutures intersect) that are covered by tough membranes that protect the underlying soft tissues and brain. The fontanelles include: Anterior fontanelle (also called soft spot).
What is a fontanelle and what is its fate?
At birth, the skull features a small posterior fontanelle (an open area covered by a tough membrane) where the two parietal bones adjoin the occipital bone (at the lambda). This fontanelle usually closes during the first two to three months of an infant’s life.
Why is it called fontanelle?
Fontanel (fontanelle): The word fontanel comes from the French fontaine for fountain. The medical term fontanel is a “soft spot” of the skull. The “soft spot” is soft precisely because the cartilage there has not yet hardened into bone between the skull bones.
What is fontanelle made of?
These gaps are composed of membranous connective tissue and are known as fontanelles. Fontanelles, often referred to as “soft spots,” are one of the most prominent anatomical features of the newborn’s skull.
Definition A fontanelle, fontanel, or soft spot is an anatomical feature of a baby’s skull. A baby has six fontanelles that consist of membranous tissue in the areas where certain adult skull sutures are found. Fontanelles allow the skull to pass through the birth canal and also provide a means of expansion as the brain grows.
What are the lateral fontanelles?
The skull at birth, showing the lateral fontanelles. [edit on Wikidata] A fontanelle (or fontanel) (colloquially, soft spot) is an anatomical feature of the infant human skull comprising any of the soft membranous gaps (sutures) between the cranial bones that make up the calvaria of a fetus or an infant.
What are fontanels in babies?
Fontanels are the soft areas between the bones of the skull. By the time an infant reaches 19 months of age, all fontanels should have ossified. Babies have two fontanels: the anterior and the posterior. The posterior fontanel closes within the first few months of life, while the anterior one closes much later.
What does it mean when you have a third fontanel?
The Third Fontanelle In rare cases, a third soft spot is found. This indicates a disorder – most commonly Down syndrome or congenital hypothyroidism (low levels of thyroid hormone). This abnormal fontanelle is located in front of the posterior fontanel.