Macrocephaly in Children and Adults With Autism

doi:10.1097/00004583-199702000-00019

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Volume 36, Issue 2, February 1997, Pages 282-290

https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199702000-00019 Get rights and content

ABSTRACT

Objective

To explore the frequency and onset of macrocephaly in autism and its relationship to clinical features.

Method

Head circumferences at birth, during early childhood, and at the time of examination were studied in a community-based sample of autistic children and adults. The authors investigated whether head circumference at the time of examination was associated with clinical features.

Results

Fourteen percent of the autistic subjects had macrocephaly: 11% of males and 24% of females. In most, the macrocephaly was not present at birth; in some it became apparent in early and middle childhood as a result of increased rate of head growth. A small relationship was noted between head circumference percentile and less severe core features of autism. Neither macrocephaly nor head circumference percentile was associated with nonverbal IQ, verbal status, seizure disorder, neurological soft signs, or minor physical anomalies in the autistic subjects.

Conclusion

Macrocephaly is common in autism and usually is not present at birth. Rates of head growth may be abnormal in early and middle childhood in some (37%) children with autism. Macrocephaly does not define a homogeneous subgroup of autistic individuals according to clinical features.

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Citation Excerpt :
Several studies established replicable morphological differences in ASD. Some of the most consistent and prominent findings include larger head circumferences (Bailey et al., 1993; Davidovitch et al., 1996; Elder et al., 2008; Hazlett et al., 2005; Lainhart et al., 1997; Stevenson et al., 1997; Woodhouse et al., 1996) and brain volumes (Carper et al., 2002; Hazlett et al., 2005; Piven et al., 1996, 1995, 1992; Redcay and Courchesne, 2005; Sparks et al., 2002). A number of regions have been found to have differences in ASD, including the corpus callosum (Frazier et al., 2012; Hardan et al., 2009, 2000; Manes et al., 1999; Piven et al., 1997; Wolff et al., 2015), the amygdala and hippocampus (Aylward et al., 1999; Barnea-Goraly et al., 2014; Dager et al., 2007; Kim et al., 2010; Schumann et al., 2009; Sparks et al., 2002), and the cerebellum (Bauman and Kemper, 1985; Carper and Courchesne, 2000; D’Mello et al., 2015; Fatemi et al., 2012; Piven et al., 1992; Stoodley, 2014; Wang et al., 2014).
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Preliminary results were presented at the 1995 World Congress on Psychiatric Genetics.

This study was supported by NIMH grant 5 R01 MH39936-04 (Dr. Folstein), Career Development Award MH01338 (Dr. Santangelo), and an Outpatient General Clinical Research Center Grant from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

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SPECIAL ARTICLEMacrocephaly in Children and Adults With Autism

ABSTRACT

Objective

Method

Results

Conclusion

Lancet

Am J Clin Nutr

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry

J Pediatr

J Pediatr

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd edition-revised (DSM-III-R)

Autism as a strongly genetic disorder: evidence from a British twin study

Psychol Med

A case-control family history study of autism

J Child Psychol Psychiatry

Centiles for adult head circumference

Arch Dis Child