Is the bilateral temporal extracerebral space slightly wider?

The slightly wider bilateral temporal extracerebral spaces usually occur in newborns. It is often a phenomenon of developmental dysplasia of the frontal and temporal lobes, which cannot completely keep pace with the growth of the skull to produce gaps. If other diseases can be ruled out, there is no need to worry too much. If the child is too young, it is necessary to observe the child's development regularly to see if the child has any other symptoms of discomfort. If there are any discomfort symptoms, seek medical attention in time.

Does widening of the extracerebral space require treatment?

The diagnosis of widening of the brain is made by examining the baby's head CT or head magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Some diagnoses are external hydrocephalus, and some even diagnose it as brain dysplasia. Some of the children examined received a lot of treatment, including drug injections and various rehabilitation therapies. The children suffer a lot and the parents suffer mental torture and financial loss. In fact, a baby's head CT or head magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shows that widening of the extracerebral space is a normal phenomenon for babies with normal head size. Because the skull grows quickly and the brain tissue grows slowly, gaps appear outside the brain. Below is an example of a premature baby whose extracerebral space widened at 3 months old. The widening of the extracerebral space disappeared at 1 year and 2 months old, and his intellectual development was normal.

Yangyang, female, was delivered by cesarean section at 29 weeks. Her mother had a history of preserving the fetus during pregnancy. No abnormalities were found in the rest of the pregnancy examinations. In the neonatal period, she suffered from hyperbilirubinemia, neonatal anemia, neonatal pneumonia, etc. There were no abnormalities in fundus oculi and auditory evoked potentials. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head at 3 months showed widening of the extracerebral space. Starting from one month of corrected age, the baby will come to the clinic regularly for guidance on feeding, care, exercise, and intelligence training. No medication or treatment equipment was used. Neuromotor examinations were unremarkable at every visit. The intelligence tests at 6 and 17 months were both normal. At 1 year and 2 months old, the extracerebral space basically disappears.

In this example, a premature baby has widened extracerebral space at 3 months of age, and the widening of the extracerebral space has basically disappeared at 1 year and 2 months of age. Intelligence test was normal. There are also many full-term babies who have widened extracerebral space. I followed up and observed 50 full-term babies with widened extracerebral space until they were 2 years old. They stopped any medication or instrument treatment and were only given family guidance on early education. At the age of 2, their intellectual and motor development was completely normal. Some of the babies underwent reexamination of cranial MRI, which showed that the widening of the extracerebral space had disappeared. Therefore, widening of the extracerebral space in normal infants or high-risk infants such as premature infants is a normal developmental process and does not require treatment.