Cranioplasty: Review of materials and techniques

Abstract

Cranioplasty is the surgical intervention to repair cranial defects. The aim of cranioplasty is not only a cosmetic issue; also, the repair of cranial defects gives relief to psychological drawbacks and increases the social performances. Many different types of materials were used throughout the history of cranioplasty. With the evolving biomedical technology, new materials are available to be used by the surgeons. Although many different materials and techniques had been described, there is still no consensus about the best material, and ongoing researches on both biologic and nonbiologic substitutions continue aiming to develop the ideal reconstruction materials. In this article, the principle materials and techniques of cranioplasty are reviewed.

Keywords: Allograft; autograft; cranioplasty; reconstruction; skull defects.

Figure 1

Intraoperative view of one of our cases demonstrating the application fascia lata graft. (B: boney skull, F: fascia lata)

Figure 2

Silicon cranioplasty kit

Figure 3

(a) Porous polyethylene cranioplasty kit types, (b) postoperative head CT-scan of one of our cases demonstrating the defect reconstructed with porous polyethylene (arrow)

Figure 4

One of our cases with skull defect reconstructed with Cortoss™. (a) Intraoperative view of Cortoss™ use, (b) postoperative head 3D CT-scan demonstrating the defect reconstructed with Cortoss™ (arrows)

Figure 5

Titanium cranioplasty kit. (a) Titanium plate, (b) titanium mesh