Histological and microradiographical study of Crouzon's disease.

A histological and microradiographical study of thin undecalcified sections from the cranial vault of three different cases of Crouzon's disease has been performed. The fundamentally abnormal aspects of the bone tissues observed in this disease consist of a premature closing of the sutures, an external membranous bone apposition and an internal selective bone resorption leading to the production of the crests already visible in the clinical radiographs. A thickening of these crests by secondary bone apposition has been observed. The bone fragment removed in a fourth case during a second surgical treatment, when studied by the same technique, showed apparently normal bone.