Fontanelle
A fontanelle (or fontanel) (colloquially, soft spot) is an anatomical feature of the infant human skull comprising soft membranous gaps (sutures) between the cranial bones that make up the calvaria of a fetus or an infant. Fontanelles allow for stretching and deformation of the neurocranium both during birth and later as the brain expands faster than the surrounding bone can grow. Premature complete ossification of the sutures is called craniosynostosis.
| Fontanelle | |
|---|---|
The skull at birth, showing the anterior and posterior fontanelles | |
The skull at birth, showing the lateral fontanelles | |
| Details | |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | fonticuli cranii |
| MeSH | D055762 |
| TA98 | A02.1.00.027 |
| TA2 | 431 |
| FMA | 75437 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
After infancy, the anterior fontanelle is known as the bregma.
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