Cranial defects in the Goldenhar syndrome.

Four patients are presented with the Goldenhar syndrome (GS) and cranial defects consisting of plagiocephaly, microcephaly, skull defects, or intracranial dermoid cysts. Twelve cases from the literature add hydrocephalus, encephalocele, and arhinencephaly to a growing list of brain anomalies in GS. As a group, these patients emphasize the variability of GS and the increased risk for developmental retardation with multiple, severe, or unusual manifestations. The temporal relation of proposed teratogenic events in GS provides an opportunity to reconstruct biological relationships within the 3-5-week human embryo.