In some cases, the plates have been observed to come into direct contact with the brain. Absorbable plates are now used instead. Timing of surgery
The prevention of post-surgical complications, including those mentioned above, plays an important role in discussions over the timing of potential surgery. The general consensus is to perform surgery in late infancy, i.e. between six and twelve months. Within this time frame the efficacy of surgery will be enhanced for several reasons:

The bone is still more malleable and can be remodelled relatively simply by greenstick fractures of the bone. At approximately one year of age the bone has become more mineralized and brittle and needs to be attached to the surrounding bone with sutures or an absorbable plate. Reshaping of the cranial vault most commonly means excision of the bones to allow shape adjustment. Replacement of cranial bones can leave gaps which are readily re-ossified before the age of one year, but will need bony filling thereafter.Most surgeons will not intervene until after the age of six months due to the heightened risk which blood loss poses before this age. It is generally preferable to wait until after three months of age when anaesthetic risks will also be decreased.Surgery is not performed in early childhood in every country; in some countries surgical intervention can take place in the late teens.It is important that families seek out a Pediatric Craniofacial Physician who has experience with craniosynostosis for proper diagnosis, surgical care, and followup.
The resulting shape can best be assessed from a top view again, which will reveal a somewhat triangular form of the head. Trigonocephaly is also a Greek-derived word, which can be translated as triangular-shaped head. A facial feature of metopic synostosis is hypotelorism; in the frontal view, it can be seen that the width between the eyes is smaller than usual. Plagiocephaly
The Greek word πλάγιος plágios means "skew". Plagiocephaly can be subclassified as anterior plagiocephaly or posterior plagiocephaly. Anterior plagiocephaly
Anterior plagiocephaly is a clinical description of unilateral coronal synostosis. Children born with unilateral coronal synostosis develop due to compensatory mechanisms a skew head; a plagiocephaly.The sagittal suture divides the coronal suture in two halves; unilateral meaning that either the right side or the left side to the sagittal suture is fused. This fact immediately raises an important point. Unlike closure of the sagittal or the metopic suture, right and left are not the same in unilateral coronal synostosis. This asymmetry shows in the skull deformity, as well as in the facial deformity and the complications.This time, the skull deformity can only partly be predicted using Virchows law. Growth is arrested in the plane perpendicular to the fused suture and the forehead is flattened, but only at the ipsilateral side of the head. Ipsilateral indicates the same side of the head as where the suture is closed. Compensatory growth occurs in a parallel plane, as well as in a perpendicular plane.