swollen vessel on my 2 yr. old son's scalp

[Nellbell333]

I'm concerned about a lump on my son's head. He is now 2 years old. When he was 6 mos. he was diagnosed with benign external hydracephalus. He did not need a shunt and has met all of his milestones up to this time. I recently discovered a lump on his scalp behind his left ear. The lump flattens when you press on it and inflates when you let go. It is more of a round shape, almost the size of a dime. It has no color that I can see. It lies under his hair.  Sometimes the lump goes away temporarily. It is easy to make it reappear by making him laugh or when he cries or is straining in some way. It does not pulsate that I know of. There are no other vessels on his body that protrude like this one. Should I be concerned? What could this be?

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

It is remarkable that the lump can be made to appear by having him laugh or when he cries. Laughing and crying are activities which increase the intracranial pressure momentarily.

Does the lump go away after he has stopped crying or laughing ?

I would recommend that you should bring this to the notice of his neurologist.

Regards

[Nellbell333]

Regarding the lump: it is there at times even when he is not laughing or crying, however it comes and goes. It is always there when he is laughing or crying. What does intracranial pressure indicate?

[ashy91711]

hi i have hydracephalus and whenever theres lumps it normally means theres fluid sacs like leaking type a thing from the tubing. you should make sure his entire tubing is connected correctly.