
Cephalic disorders are congenital conditions characterized by damage or abnormal development of the nervous system. They are caused by multiple factors such as genetic, nutritional deficiencies and environmental exposure to infection or radiation during gestation. Cephalic disorders result in chronic, disabling disorders and even death. Common cephalic disorders include anencephaly, colpocephaly, holoprosencephaly, ethmocephaly, hydranencephaly, iniencephaly, lissencephaly, megalencephal, microcephaly, porencephaly, and schizencephaly. Anencephaly accounts for the largest share of cephalic disorders with almost 1,000 to 2,000 babies born with anencephaly each year in the U.S. The treatment for cephalic disorders includes drugs, surgery and occupational and behavioral therapy. However, there is a dearth of curative treatment and most patients receive symptomatic treatments based on conditions that vary by a large degree.