World Neurosurg
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To develop a novel 3D-printer-assisted method to fabricate patient-specific implants for cranioplasty and to demonstrate its feasibility and its use in 16 consecutive cases. ⋯ Our workflow to intraoperatively produce patient-specific implants in a timely manner to cover cranial defects proved to be feasible. The results are cosmetically appealing, and postoperative CT scans show well-fitting implants. As implantable printable substrates are already available, we aim to advance and certify 3D-printed patient-specific implants in the near future.
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To test which intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) characteristics impact incidence of hydrocephalus and characterize subsequent impact on outcomes. ⋯ Bleed characteristics affect incidence of hydrocephalus on admission, rates of long-term shunt dependency, and outcomes. Hemorrhage location did not predict shunt dependency; however, it did predict outcomes. Specifically, cerebellar ICH was associated with a better discharge mRS score.
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Continuing medical education and continuing professional development have been affected by the ongoing 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Therefore, we developed the 2020 International Web-Based Neurosurgery Congress (2020 IWBNC), which became the first successful virtual neurosurgical congress. The aim of this article was to describe the experience designing and organizing a web congress by the 2020 IWBNC method. ⋯ Web-based academic meetings will continue to be a helpful educational tool for continuing medical education and continuing professional development. The 2020 IWBNC double-room method represents an alternative design that may be replicated by the academic community planning web congresses and similar events.
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Chronic subdural hematomas (cSDHs) are an increasingly prevalent neurologic disease that often requires surgical intervention to alleviate compression of the brain. Management of cSDHs relies heavily on computed tomography (CT) imaging, and serial imaging is frequently obtained to help direct management. The volume of hematoma provides critical information in guiding therapy and evaluating new methods of management. We set out to develop an automated program to compute the volume of hematoma on CT scans for both pre- and postoperative images. ⋯ We successfully trained a convolutional neural network on a dataset of pre- and postoperative head CTs containing cSDH. This tool could assist with automated, accurate measurements for evaluating treatment efficacy.
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Various studies have investigated the load-bearing capacity of patient-specific cranial implants. However, little attention has been given to the evaluation of the design of ceramic-titanium (CeTi) implants. ⋯ From the finite element analyses, CeTi cranial implants appear less likely to induce calvarial fractures with a better potential to protect the brain under impact loads.