• Kyu Seon Chung, Dong Ah Shin, Keung Nyun Kim, Yoon Ha, Yoon Do Heum DH Department of Neurosurgery, Spine and Spinal Cord Institute, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea., and Seong Yi.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Spine and Spinal Cord Institute, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
• World Neurosurg. 2019 Jun 1; 126: 90-95.

BackgroundDestruction of the spine is a huge complication of infectious spondylitis and surgical intervention is required. However, vertebral defect is a major problem after surgical intervention and numerous methods have been researched to solve this problem. There are known methods that use variously designed, patient-customized 3-dimensional (3D)-printed implants in various medical fields. The use of 3D-printed implants has also been attempted in treating defects in the spine. We present a case of failure of expandable titanium cage fusion after infection, treated using a 3D-printed implant.Case DescriptionThe patient had undergone reconstruction surgery with expandable titanium cage due to infectious spondylitis and needed reoperation owing to recurrence of infections and failure of bone fusion. The problem we faced in this operation was a large vertebral defect, for which we used a 3D-printed implant. After 3 years of follow-up, the implant and bone fusion were intact and infection or mechanical complications were not seen.ConclusionsA 3D-printed implant could be an acceptable and alternative treatment option for replacing a large vertebral defect.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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