Occipital Skull Reduction

Q: Dr. Eppley, I would like to ask a question regarding a case that you dealt with. The case I am referring to is this occipital skull reduction case:

http://exploreplasticsurgery.com/case-study-occipital-skull-reduction/

My situation is identical to his preoperative photo and my desired outcome is identical to the postoperative photo. How many mm of bone was burred down in his case? I would also like to ask what numerical difference this reduction would make to my skull circumference as a whole. I currently have a skull circumference of 22.5 inches, how much size here can I expect to lose with this sort of reduction?

A: As is typical for most occipital skull reductions the amount of bone thickness that can be safely reduced is in the range of 5 to 7mms. I can not tell you what, if any, circumferential skull reduction is achieved by such occipital reduction as I have never made any such measurements in the patients. Occipital skull reduction is a ‘spot’ area of skull reduction and probably has little circumferential skull reduction effect in most cases. Think of it as a contouring procedure that in profile makes the back of the head stick out less.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana