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Abstract

Microcephaly refers to a head circumference that is smaller than normal. Generally, microcephaly at birth denotes a fundamental impairment in normal prenatal brain development. Neonatal microcephaly may be caused by a large number of diseases including both genetic (e.g., brain malformations, neurometabolic diseases, and chromosomal abnormalities) and environmental (disruptive) etiologies (e.g., congenital infections, drugs with teratogenic/toxic effect, and poorly controlled maternal conditions). Head ultrasound is very helpful in detecting the underlying cause of microcephaly as well as following changes/growth of the head size over time.

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Poretti, A., Huisman, T.A.G.M. (2016). Microcephaly. In: Poretti, A., Huisman, T. (eds) Neonatal Head and Spine Ultrasonography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14568-6_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14568-6_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-14567-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-14568-6

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