Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
Delayed cranial suture closure
HP:0000270
What it means
Infants normally have two fontanels at birth, the diamond-shaped anterior fontanelle at the junction of the coronal and sagittal sutures, and the posterior fontanelle at the intersection of the occipital and parietal bones. The posterior fontanelle usually closes by the 8th week of life, and the anterior fontanel closes by the 18th month of life on average. This term applies if there is delay of closure of the fontanelles beyond the normal age.
Rare diseases that can present with this31
Very common80–99%
11- Antley-Bixler syndrome
- Autosomal dominant Kenny-Caffey syndrome
- Craniosynostosis-anal anomalies-porokeratosis syndrome
- Cutaneous mastocytosis-deafness-microtia syndrome
- Hypertelorism-hypospadias-polysyndactyly syndrome
- Lenz-Majewski hyperostotic dysplasia
- Melnick-Needles syndrome
- Microbrachycephaly-ptosis-cleft lip syndrome
- Occipital horn syndrome
- Osteosclerotic bone dysplasia
- Ulna hypoplasia-intellectual disability syndrome
Common30–79%
17- 1p36deletion syndrome
- Arachnodactyly-abnormal ossification-intellectual disability syndrome
- Autosomal recessive cutis laxa type 2A
- Autosomal recessive Kenny-Caffey syndrome
- Baraitser-Winter cerebrofrontofacial syndrome
- Dubowitz syndrome
- Familial thyroid dyshormonogenesis
- Hypothyroidism due to deficient transcription factors involved in pituitary development or function
- Idiopathic congenital hypothyroidism
- Isolated thyroid-stimulating hormone deficiency
- Mandibuloacral dysplasia
- Medulloblastoma
- Ogden syndrome
- Osteopathia striata-cranial sclerosis syndrome
- Pycnodysostosis
- Saethre-Chotzen syndrome
- Silver-Russell syndrome
The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.
Part of the broader category
Also called: Broad late closing cranial sutures · Delayed closure of fontanel · Delayed closure of fontanelles · Delayed closure of fontanels · Delayed closure of the fontanelles · Delayed fontanel closure · Delayed fontanelle closure · Late closing fontanelles
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Start free with EleplanThis page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.