Customized Cranioplasty Implants Using Three-Dimensional Printers and Polymethyl-Methacrylate Casting
A 71-year-old woman underwent cranioplasty with individualized PMMA casting for the reconstruction of a large right fronto-temporo-parietal cranial defect. She had undergone a decompressive craniectomy for severe brain swelling that had been caused by a middle and posterior cerebral artery infarction 6 months before. Using the mirror-imaging process, an image of the cranial defect was generated, and the mold was prefabricated with the 3D printer. Intraoperatively, the PMMA implant was created with the mold and then fit into the defect. The post-operative 3D CT images showed excellent symmetric morphology ().