Kleeblattschaedel

Description

Cloverleaf skull, or Kleeblattschaedel, consists of a trilobular skull with craniosynostosis. The condition shows pathogenetic variability and etiologic heterogeneity. The cause of isolated cloverleaf skull is unknown (Cohen, 2009).

Cohen (1975) pointed out that Kleeblattschaedel is a component of many syndromes, e.g., it is found in some cases of Crouzon syndrome (123500), Pfeiffer syndrome (101600), and Carpenter syndrome (201000).

Cohen (2009) listed 12 monogenic disorders with cloverleaf skull as a feature, including type II thanatophoric dysplasia (187601), which accounts for 40% of all cloverleaf skull syndromes. Cohen (2009) published photographs of cloverleaf skull in various syndromes.

History

Kleeblattschaedel was first identified as an entity by Holtermuller and Wiedemann (1960). Aksu and Mietens (1979) reviewed 96 published cases.