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Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic

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Phone: 507-538-4930 | 507-284-3520
Address: 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN
Website: Visit our Website
Location: MN 55905

Meet the team

  • Dr. Waleed Gibreel

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  • Dr. David J. Daniels

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  • Edward Ahn

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  • Dr. Samir Mardini

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  • Dr. Uldis Bite

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About Mayo Clinic

At Mayo Clinic's campus in Minnesota, highly skilled experts in the Cleft and Craniofacial Clinic include a variety of specialists with pediatric expertise in  neurosurgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, genetic and hereditary conditions (clinical genomics), and pediatric rehabilitation. The collaborative team of experts involved depends on each child's needs. Children requiring hospitalization are cared for at Mayo Eugenio Litta Children's Hospital. Each year, doctors at Mayo Clinic, diagnose and treat about 400 babies with craniosynostosis or other craniofacial disorders. Specialists treat all types of craniosynostosis, ranging from severe syndromes to simple fusions. The campus in Minnesota is one of the few centers in the world that offers virtual surgical planning for treatment of craniosynostosis. Based on that virtual surgical plan, Mayo Clinic surgeons can customize the procedure for craniosynostosis to the individual patient with a high degree of detail. Mayo Clinic's highly skilled doctors and surgeons have significant expertise and experience with all types of craniosynostosis. Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., ranks No. 1 for neurology and neurosurgery in the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals rankings.

Minimally Invasive Surgery and Open Surgery

        1. A comprehensive team at Mayo Clinic, including a specialist in surgery of the head and face (craniofacial surgeon) and a specialist in brain surgery (neurosurgeon), performs the procedure. Surgery can be done by endoscopic or open surgery. Both types of procedures produce very good cosmetic results with low risk of complications.
          1. Endoscopic surgery. This minimally invasive surgery may be considered for babies up to age 6 months who have craniosynostosis. Using a camera (endoscope) inserted through small scalp incisions, the surgeon opens the affected suture to enable your baby's brain to grow normally. Compared with an open procedure, endoscopic surgery has a smaller incision, typically involves only a one-night hospital stay and usually does not require a blood transfusion.
          2. Open surgery. Generally, for babies older than 6 months, open surgery is done. The surgeon makes an incision in the scalp and cranial bones, then reshapes the affected portion of the skull. The skull position is held in place with plates and screws that are absorbable. Open surgery typically involves a three- or four-day hospital stay, and blood transfusion is usually necessary. It's generally a one-time procedure, but in complex cases, multiple open surgeries are often required to correct the baby's head shape.

Virtual Surgical Planning

        1. Imaging studies can help surgeons develop a surgical procedure plan. Virtual surgical planning for treatment of craniosynostosis uses high-definition 3-D CT scans of your baby's skull to construct a computer-simulated, individualized surgical plan. Based on that virtual surgical plan, Mayo Clinic surgeons create customized templates that are constructed to guide the procedure for each individual patient. 
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        3. Mayo is one of the few centers in the world that offers virtual surgical planning for treatment of craniosynostosis. Engineers at the company consult via Web conference with Mayo Clinic physicians.
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        5. During the meeting the CT data are used to construct a computer-simulated, individualized surgical plan. Based on that virtual surgical plan, patient-specific templates are constructed to guide the Mayo surgeons during the procedure. "In the past, there has been a standard surgical procedure for sagittal craniosynostosis. These templates allow us to customize the procedure to the individual patient, with a high degree of detail," Dr. Mardini says.

Helmet Therapy

        1. After endoscopic surgery, visits at certain intervals are required to fit a series of helmets to help shape your baby's skull. If open surgery is done, no helmet is needed afterward.
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