Microcephaly

• Head circumference that is more than three standard deviations below the mean for the age and sex of the infant
• can be congenital or may be acquired
• can be caused by abnormal development during gestation or follow intrauterine infections such as zika virus, rubella, toxoplasmosis, and cytomeglovirus
• acquired microcephaly may occur due to severe malnutrition perinatal infections, or anorexia in early infancy
• Nursing assessment: as child ages, head growth will fail while the face will continue to grow at a normal rate
• Nursing assessment: results in a small head, large face, loose often wrinkled scalp
• Nursing assessment: as the child grows older, the smallness of the skull becomes more pronounced
• Nursing assessment: the degree of intellectual ability varies
• Nursing assessment: convulsions may be present, and motor deficit ranges from clumsiness to spastic quadriplegia