Page 111 - Clinical relevance of current materials for cranial implants
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PEEK cranioplasty
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Figure 1. Clinical illustration
Left panel: Preoperative (top), early (middle) and late (bottom) post-operative photographs
Middle panel: 3D CT reconstruction of cranium and defect illustrating planning of PEEK reconstruction (blue). Right panel: Intra-operative photographs showing right (top) and left (middle) PEEK cranioplasty nicely adapting to the contours of the defect; intra-operative photograph after closure (bottom).
RESULTS
Patient characteristics
Table 1 lists a detailed summary of patient and surgery-specific factors. In total 40 PEEK cranioplasties were performed in 38 patients. Two patients had bilateral cranial defects. The median follow-up period was 19.1 months (IQR 12.5-30.6). The average age at PEEK cranioplasty was 43.2 ± 18.1 years (range 8-84) with a male predominance (61% male). Fifteen patients (39%) had one or more associated comorbidities: cardiovascular disease in 10 (26%), obesity in 7 (18%) and diabetes in 2 (5%) patients. No patient had received radiotherapy. Ten patients (26%) were smokers at the time of cranioplasty. Indications for the primary craniectomy were stroke (39%), trauma (34%), tumor resection (21%) and infection (5%). Craniectomy resulted in unilateral convexity defects in 32 patients (84%), bilateral convexity defects in 2 patients (5%, Figure 1) and frontal defects in 4 patients (11%). Frontal sinus involvement was present in 1 patient.
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