Fontanelle

Last revised by Craig Hacking on 15 Apr 2021

Fontanelles are the soft membraneous regions of the fetus and neonate calvarium where the corners of three or four developing flat bones meet and allow for the growth over the skull over the developing brain.

There are two main, palpable fontanelles in the midline:

There are two smaller paired bilateral fontanelles:

Clinical significance

Related pathology

Cases and figures

  • Figure 1a: neonatal cranium (Gray's anatomy illustration)
  • Figure 1b: neonatal cranium (Gray's anatomy illustration)
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