Environmental factors refer for example to maternal smoking and the maternal exposure to amine-containing drugs. Several research groups have found evidence that these environmental factors are responsible for an increase in the risk of craniosynostosis, likely through effects on fibroblast growth factor receptor genes.

On the other hand, a recent evaluation of valproic acid (an anti-epilepticum), which has been implicated as a causative agent, has shown no association with craniosynostosis.

Certain medication (like amine-containing drugs) can increase the risk of craniosynostosis when taken during pregnancy, these are so-called teratogenic factors.

Via a photo shown on a Facebook page, the mother of a child previously diagnosed with this condition recognised the symptoms and reported them to the family involved, resulting in an immediate diagnosis that medical professionals had overlooked in all earlier consultations.

Biomechanical factors include fetal head constraint during pregnancy. It has been found by Jacob et al. that constraint inside the womb is associated with decreased expression of Indian Hedgehog protein and noggin. These last two are both important factors influencing bone development.

The highest rate of neurological problems of single suture synostosis are seen in patients with trigonocephaly. Surgery is performed generally before the age of one because of claims of better intellectual outcome. Seemingly surgery does not influence the high incidence of neurodevelopment problems in patients with metopic synostosis. Neurological disorders such as ADHD, ASD, ODD and CD are seen in patients with trigonocephaly. These disorders are usually also associated with decreased IQ. The presence of ADHD, ASD and ODD is higher in cases with an IQ below 85. This is not the case with CD which showed an insignificant increase at an IQ below 85.

Following methods could serve as prevention: carrying the infant and tummy time.

Slight plagiocephaly is routinely diagnosed at birth and may be the result of a restrictive intrauterine environment giving a "diamond" shaped head when seen from above. If there is premature union of skull bones, this is more properly called craniosynostosis.

The incidence of plagiocephaly has increased dramatically since the advent of anti-Sudden Infant Death Syndrome recommendations for parents to keep their babies on their backs.

Data also suggest that the rates of plagiocephaly is higher among twins and multiple births, premature babies, babies who were positioned in the breech position or back-to-back, as well as babies born after a prolonged labour.

SCS is the most common craniosynostosis syndrome and affects 1 in every 25,000 to 50,000 individuals. It occurs in all racial and ethnic groups, and affects males and females equally. If a parent carries a copy of the SCS gene mutation, then there is a 50% chance their child will also carry a copy of the gene mutation, in which case, the child may or may not show signs of SCS. There is also a 50% chance their child will have two working copies of the gene, and would therefore, not have SCS. If both parents carry a single copy of the SCS gene mutation, then there is a 25% chance their child will have two gene mutation copies (so child would develop severe SCS), a 25% chance their child would have two normal copies of the gene (so would be completely normal), and a 50% chance their child would carry one gene mutation copy and 1 normal copy (so child may or may not display SCS). In rare situations, two normal parents can have a child with SCS due to a "de novo" mutation. The exact cause of the "de novo" mutation is unknown, but it doesn't seem to be related to anything that the parents did or didn't do during the pregnancy. SCS due to a "de novo" mutation is so rare that the proportion of past cases is unknown.

This condition can be corrected by surgery if the child is young enough. The use of a cranial remolding orthosis can also benefit the child if the child begins wearing it at an early age.

There is still some discussion on whether FND is sporadic or genetic. The majority of FND cases are sporadic. Yet, some studies describe families with multiple members with FND. Gene mutations are likely to play an important role in the cause. Unfortunately, the genetic cause for most types of FND remains undetermined.

Very few risk factors for choanal atresia have been identified. While causes are unknown, both genetic and environmental triggers are suspected. One study suggests that chemicals that act as endocrine disrupters may put an unborn infant at risk. A 2012 epidemiological study looked at atrazine, a commonly used herbicide in the U.S., and found that women who lived in counties in Texas with the highest levels of this chemical being used to treat agricultural crops were 80 times more likely to give birth to infants with choanal atresia or stenosis compared to women who lived in the counties with the lowest levels. Another epidemiological report in 2010 found even higher associations between increased incidents of choanal atresia and exposure to second-hand-smoke, coffee consumption, high maternal zinc and B-12 intake and exposure to anti-infective urinary tract medications.

In terms of epidemiology, Jackson–Weiss syndrome is a rare genetic disorder; the overall contribution of FGFR mutation to the condition is not clear.

Prenatal diagnosis of Saethre-Chotzen Syndrome in high risk pregnancies is doable, but very uncommon and rarely performed. Furthermore, this is only possible if the mutation causing the disease has already been identified within the family genome. There are a few different techniques in which prenatal testing can be carried out. Prenatal testing is usually performed around 15–18 weeks, using amniocentesis to extract DNA from the fetus's cells. Prenatal testing can also be performed during weeks 10-12 using chorionic villus sampling (CVS) to extract DNA from the fetus. Recently, there has been an increased interest in utilizing ultrasound equipment in order to detect fetal skull abnormalities due to immature fusion of the cranial sutures.

Metopism is the condition of having a persistent metopic suture, or persistence of the frontal metopic suture in the adult human skull. The premature fusion of cranial sutures named craniosynostosis, it is “simple” when only one cranial suture is involved and “compound” when two or more cranial sutures are involved. Metopism is the opposite of craniosynostosis. The main factor of the metopic suture is to increase the volume of the anterior cranial fossa. The frontal bone includes the forehead, and the roofs of the orbits (bony sockets) of the eyes.

The frontal bone has vertical portion (squama) and horizontal portion (orbital part). Some adults have a metopic or frontal suture in the vertical portion. In uterine period in right and left half of frontal region of the fetus there is a membrane tissue. On each half a primary ossification center appears about the end of the second month of the fetus. Primary ossification center extends to form the corresponding half of the vertical part (squama) and horizontal part (orbital part) of the frontal bone.

At birth the frontal bone contains two portions, separated by the metopic (frontal) suture. Metopism is the condition of having a persistent metopic suture. Metopic suture is regularly obliterated, except at its lower part, by the eighth year, but infrequently persists throughout life. There is no single proven cause of metopism. The occurrence is from mild to serious situations. Visional, learning, and behavioral problems may happen in serious metopism. Some don't need any medical treatment. Surgery is a successful approach for those who need it. Treatment teams include: neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons, neurologists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, audiologists, neuroscience nursing professionals, speech therapists, physical therapists, dentist, otolaryngologists, ophthalmologists, psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers.

Surgery is needed to prevent the closing of the coronal sutures from damaging brain development. In particular, surgeries for the LeFort III or monobloc midface distraction osteogenesis which detaches the midface or the entire upper face, respectively, from the rest of the skull, are performed in order to reposition them in the correct plane. These surgeries are performed by both plastic and oral and maxillofacial (OMS) surgeons, often in collaboration.

There are two less common types of McGillivray syndromes are: Metopic synostosis (trigonocephaly). The metopic suture runs from your baby's nose to the sagittal suture. Premature fusion gives the scalp a triangular appearance. Another one is Lambdoid synostosis (posterior plagiocephaly). This rare form of craniosynostosis involves the lambdoid suture, which runs across the skull near the back of the head. It may cause flattening of your baby's head on the affected side. A misshapen head doesn't always indicate craniosynostosis. For example, if the back of your baby's head appears flattened, it could be the result of birth trauma or your baby's spending too much time on his or her back. This condition is sometimes treated with a custom-fit helmet that helps mold your baby's head back into a normal position.

There are approximately three hundred known cases of Carpenter Syndrome in the United States. Only 1 in 1 million live births will result in an infant affected by Carpenter Syndrome (RN, 2007).

Carpenter Syndrome is an autosomal recessive disease which means both parents must have the faulty genes in order to pass the disease onto their children. Even if both parents possess the faulty gene there is still only a twenty five percent chance that they will produce a child affected by the syndrome. Their children who do not have the disease will still be carriers and possess the ability to pass the disease onto their offspring if their spouse is also a carrier of the particular gene.

The cause of frontorhiny is a mutation in the ALX3 gene. ALX3 is essential for normal facial development. Different mutations can occur in the ALX3 gene, but they all lead to the same effect: severe or complete loss of protein functionality. The ALX3 mutation never occurs in a person without frontorhiny.

Omphalocele has been described in two patients with Apert syndrome by Herman T.E. et al. (USA, 2010) and by Ercoli G. et al. (Argentina, 2014). An omphalocele is a birth defect in which an intestine or other abdominal organs are outside of the body of an infant because of a hole in the bellybutton area. However, the association between omphalocele and Apert syndrome is not confirmed yet, so additional studies are necessary.

To treat the trigonocephaly, expanding the distance between orbits using springs seems to work. It allows enough space for the brain to grow and it creates a normal horizontal axis of the orbits and supraorbital bar. The endoscopic surgery started to become popular since the early 90's, but it has some technical limitations (only strip cranictomy is possible). There have been few attempts to go beyond the limits.

Aesthetic outcomes of metopic surgery have been good. Surgery does not have a perfect outcome because there will most likely be minor irregularities. Sometimes reoperations are needed for the severe cases. Trying to hollow out the temporal, and the hypoterlorism are very hard to correct. The hypotelorism usually stays not corrected and in order to correct the temporal hollowing, a second operation is most likely needed.

Say–Neger syndrome is a rare X-linked genetic disorder that is mostly characterized as developmental delay. It is one of the rare causes of short stature. It is closely related with trigonocephaly (a misshapen forehead due to premature fusion of bones in the skull). People with Say–Meyer syndrome have impaired growth, deficits in motor skills development and mental state.

It is suggested that it is from a X-linked transmission.

Scaphocephaly is a type of cephalic disorder which occurs when there is a premature fusion of the sagittal suture. The sagittal suture joins together the two parietal bones of skull. Scaphocephaly is the most common of the craniosynostosis conditions and is characterized by a long, narrow head.

The term is from Greek "skaphe" meaning 'light boat or skiff' and "kephale" meaning 'head') describes a specific shape of a long narrow head that resembles an inverted boat.

The major treatment is surgery for most babies. The type of surgery which they would undergo differs from age and strength they have. The main reason of doing the surgery is to alleviate pressure on the brain, and create a space for brain developing and growing. It would improve infant’s appearance.

The first one is Traditional surgery. During surgery, they make an incision in the baby's scalp and cranial bones, and reshape the portion of the skull. Sometimes plates and screws, often made of material that is absorbed over time, are used to hold the bones in place. Surgery, which is performed during general anesthesia, usually takes hours.

After surgery, your baby remains in the hospital for at least three days. Some children may require a second surgery later because, the craniosynostosis recurs. Also, children with facial deformities often require future surgeries to reshape their faces.

Another one is Endoscopic surgery. This less invasive form of surgery isn't an option for everyone. But in certain cases, the surgeon may use a lighted tube (endoscope) inserted through one or two small scalp incisions over the affected suture. The surgeon then opens the suture to enable your baby's brain to grow normally. Endoscopic surgery usually takes about an hour, causes less swelling and blood loss, and shortens the hospital stay, often to one day after surgery.

Carpenter syndrome has been associated with mutations in the RAB23 gene, which is located on chromosome 6 in humans. Additionally, three key SNPs in the MEGF8 gene, located on chromosome 19 at 19q13.2, have been identified as primary causes of Carpenter syndrome.

Incidence of Crouzon syndrome is currently estimated to occur in 1.6 out of every 100,000 people. There is a greater frequency in families with a history of the disorder, but that doesn't mean that everyone in the family is affected (as referred to above).

Brachycephaly can be corrected with a cranial remolding orthoses (helmet) which provide painless total contact over the prominent areas of the skull and leave voids over the flattened areas to provide a pathway for more symmetrical skull growth. Treatment generally takes 3–4 months, but varies depending on the infant's age and severity of the cranial asymmetry.

However studies by scientists in the Netherlands have found there was no significant difference over time between infants treated with helmets and infants left untreated. All parents of infants treated with helmets confirmed negative side effects including skin irritation and sweating.

This study focused only on patients with mild to moderate cases, the participation rate was only 21%, and there was a 73% reporting of fitting issues, calling into question the validity of the study. Incorrectly fit devices cannot be expected to yield results. Additionally, independent published research that examined the effectiveness of helmet therapy conclude that as many as 95% of

patients demonstrate an improvement in head shape symmetry following helmet therapy, and the American Orthotics and Prosthetics Association (AOPA) has serious concerns about the relevance and validity of this study.