Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Journal of Fetal Medicine
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1809702
Case Report

Atretic Parietal Cephalocele with Persistent Falcine Sinus and Sinus Pericranii: A Rare Case Diagnosed on Prenatal Ultrasound

Alpesh D. Pancholi 
1   Department of Radiology and Fetal Medicine, DIVAM Advanced Fetal Care, Vadodara, Gujarat, India
,
Adinarayana Makam
2   Department of Fetal Medicine, ADI Advanced Centre for Fetal Care, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
› Author Affiliations
› Further Information
Also available at
  Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Atretic parietal cephaloceles (APCs) are the herniation of intracranial structures like vestigial tissues (i.e., glial tissue, arachnoid tissue, or neural rests) and meninges through a cranial vault defect. These are small skin covered scalp lesions that usually occur near the lambda. The most common site is the parietal region, followed by the occipital region. Atretic cephaloceles are usually associated with intracranial venous abnormalities such as persistent falcine sinus (PFS). Association of APC and sinus pericranii (SP) is very rare. APC can be isolated or associated with intracranial abnormalities, with callosal dysgenesis, holoprosencephaly spectrum, or interhemispheric cyst being the most common. We report a case of APC with absence of straight sinus, PFS, and SP diagnosed at mid trimester on prenatal ultrasound in a diabetic mother. The diagnosis of APC was confirmed on clinical examination postnatally.

Keywords

atretic cephalocele - atretic parietal cephalocele - persistent falcine sinus - scalp lesion - sinus pericranii


Publication History

Article published online:
17 June 2025

© 2025. Society of Fetal Medicine. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India

 

  • References

  • 1 Martinez-Lage JF, Sola J, Casas C, Poza M, Almagro MJ, Girona DG. Atretic cephalocele: the tip of the iceberg. J Neurosurg 1992; 77 (02) 230-235
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 2 Yokota A, Kajiwara H, Kohchi M, Fuwa I, Wada H. Parietal cephalocele: clinical importance of its atretic form and associated malformations. J Neurosurg 1988; 69 (04) 545-551
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 3 İşgüder CK, Can ÖK, Pektaş MK. et al. Prenatal diagnosis of atretic occipital cephalocele: a case report. J Foetal Med 2019; 06 (03) 133-137
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 4 Drapkin AJ. Rudimentary cephalocele or neural crest remnant?. Neurosurgery 1990; 26 (04) 667-673 , discussion 674
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 5 Hsu S-W, Chaloupka JC. Atretic parietal cephalocele associated with sinus pericranii: embryological consideration. Brain Dev 2012; 34 (04) 325-328
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 6 McLaurin RL. Parietal cephaloceles. Neurology 1964; 14: 764-772
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 7 Konez O, Burrows PE. Sinus pericranii: angiographic assessment and correlation with cross-section imaging for intracranial vascular abnormalities and endovascular treatment. Radiology 2001; 221: 393
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 8 Şengöz A, Kaya M, Yildirim CH, Tasdemiroglu E. Atretic cephalocele in adults. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2011; 153 (11) 2275-2277
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 9 Demir MK, Çolak A, Ekşi MS, Özcan-Ekşi EE, Akakın A, Yılmaz B. Atretic cephaloceles: a comprehensive analysis of historical cohort. Childs Nerv Syst 2016; 32 (12) 2327-2337
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 10 Patterson RJ, Egelhoff JC, Crone KR, Ball Jr WS. Atretic parietal cephaloceles revisited: an enlarging clinical and imaging spectrum?. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 1998; 19 (04) 791-795
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 11 Lewis H, Tuite GF, Gonzalez-Gomez I. et al. Atretic cephalocele: prenatal and postnatal imaging features. Appl Radiat Oncol 2017; (08) 36-39
    Search in Google Scholar