Craniofacial Sutures: Development, Disease, and Treatment
Rice, DP, ed (2009) Craniofacial Sutures: Development, Disease, and Treatment. Karger, Switzerland. 236 pp. ISBN 978-3-8055-8326-8
Contributors:
C Compagnucci, MJ Depew, R Fanganiello, J Griffin, H Guenou, MK Hajihosseini, SW Herring, J Hukki, M Ishii, FS Jehee, M Kangasniemi, K Kaabeche, MD Kwan, HP Lorenz, MT Longaker, PJ Marie, R Maxson, LA Opperman, M-R Passos-Bueno, JT Rawlins, DP Rice, R Rice, P Saarinen, AL Sertie, DC Wan, E Yeh
Description:
This edited volume is divided into twelve chapters, and provides an overview of current knowledge of craniofacial suture development, as well as the clinical conditions that can result from abnormal suture development. The first three chapters focus on developmental biology, and include a description of the developmental anatomy of craniofacial sutures, as well as overviews of the molecular underpinnings of intramembranous bone and suture formation, and the mechanical influences on suture development and patency. These chapters provide a very good overview of our current understanding of sutural developmental biology. The fourth chapter takes an evolutionary perspective on suture formation, and ranges widely in considering the changes in sutural patterning (and especially the trend towards a loss of sutures) across deep paleontological time. Following this, the book moves in a decidedly clinical direction, which makes sense given that the vast bulk of what is known about the development of craniofacial sutures in humans comes from the clinical literature on craniosynostoses. First, there are three chapters that provide synopses of major clinical conditions affecting craniofacial sutures, with a focus on craniosynostosis in particular. The next four chapters describe the major molecular pathways (e.g. FGFR2, Twist) known to be involved in suture development. The final chapter reviews current treatment of craniosynostoses and provides some direction for future development in this field. Although this edited volume is most obviously directed at the medical profession, including those involved in research on the molecular underpinnings of cranial suture abnormalities, in providing such a broad yet detailed overview of the field it is surely of considerable value to anyone with an interest in craniofacial and sutural biology and evolution.
