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Susie Whalen/Herald-Chronicle
Lilly Suddarth, left, and Ava O’Brien met for the first time recently when their mothers shared
stories of girls’ trials with Craniosynostosis, a birth defect that causes sutures on a baby’s head to close earlier than normal.

Susie Whalen | Reporter

BURLINGAME—The world in which we live at times appears to be so vast and immense, but there are instances that reveal just how small the world actually is when there is a circumstance similar to a life experience being shared by another. This is exactly what occurred to two young Burlingame mothers when they discovered their small children have the same medical condition, called Craniosynostosis.

Craniosynostosis is usually diagnosed at birth. The skull of an infant is made up of free-floating bones, which are separated by fibers called sutures. From this arrangement, the infant’s head passes through the birth canal and enables the growth of the skull and brain in the early stages of infancy. Prematurely-fused sutures restrict growth of the skull and there can be increased pressure upon the brain as well as vision problems if not diagnosed properly or corrected in a timely fashion. If not diagnosed at an early stage, surgery is usually the option needed to correct the fusing issue of the skull.
