Characteristics of an infant cranium (emphasis on fontanels and their closing age).

1. Soft spots on a baby's head which, during birth, enable the bony plates of the skull to flex, allowing the child's head to pass through the birth canal.

a)      Sutures

b)     Fontanels

c)      Articulations

d)     Meninges

2. Match the following fontanels with the closing age.

___ Anterior                           a. 2-3 months

___Posterior                           b. 6-18 months

___Sphenoidal                        c.  6 months

___Mastoid                            d. 18-24 months

3. The much larger, diamond-shaped ____________ fontanel, where the two frontal and two parietal bones join and generally remains open until the child is about two years of age

a)      Sphenoidal

b)     Posterior

c)      Anterior

d)     Mastoid 


Answers