Closure of calvarial defect with custom-made biocompatible implant in a pediatric patient - A case report
Abstract
Severe head injuries in small children cause serious damage to the brain and bones of the cranium. Only small calvarial bone defects in children up to 1 year of age may heal spontaneously, as the rate of ossification slows down after the first year of life.
If the affected area is too large or bone self-repair capacity limited, the patient must undergo cranioplasty. In this article, the authors discuss the issue of calvarial defect reconstruction in very young children.
As no tissue bank for long-term storage of autologous bone graft is available in the authors' institution, they decided to reconstruct posttraumatic calvarial bone defect in a child using customized implant manufactured of biocompatible material. The authors describe their experience with PEEK (polyetheretherketone) implant used in 18-month-old boy.
At the present time, 17 months after the procedure, the boy is doing well and is without neurologic and cosmetic sequelae. His psychomotor development is adequate for his age.
Following discharge from a hospital, the patient is in a long-term follow-up program in our outpatient clinic.