Synonyms
Abnormal brain growth; Microcephalia vera; Microcephalic; Microcrania; Microencephaly
Short Description or Definition
Cephalic is Greek for head, while encephalic refers to the encephalon or the brain, and micro means small. Thus, microencephaly means a small brain, and microcephaly means a small head. These terms are often associated with brain malformations and subsequent cognitive impairments and, since brain size drives head size, have become mostly interchangeable for diagnosing purposes. Microcephaly is classified as a congenital neurodevelopmental impairment when a child’s head circumference (HC) is 1.96 standard deviations (SDs) or more below average considering age and sex and regarded as either acquired microcephaly or as autosomal recessive primary microcephaly(MCPH). Acquired microcephaly is a syndrome caused by environmental forces including delivery complications or pre- and/or postnatal insult, infection, and/or vascular disruption with accompanying deformed...
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Bigler, E.D., Petrie, J.A. (2018). Microcephaly. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1567
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