Wormian bones. A marker of CNS abnormality?

C. V. Pryles and A. J. Khan

The present investigation was undertaken to determine the incidence and significance of Wormian bones (WBs) in a random group of infants and children seen at the Jewish Hospital Medical Center of Brooklyn. Ninety-one (17%) of 515 infants and children were found to have WBs; 82 of these children (90%) had a gross disorder of the CNS and five (6%) had the so-called minimal brain dysfunction syndrome. In the remaining four patients, the data and follow-up are incomplete. Three of these did have developmental anomalies of other organ systems. Thus, the presence of WBs is almost invariably associated with abnormal development of the CNS and may serve as a useful marker for the early identification and treatment of the affected infant or child.