An ABC News report said that a team of doctors have put titanium implants into the skull of a baby girl to return her head shape to its original state. The baby has experienced a rare defect that causes an enlarged head size up to three times. Hanhan, the baby girl who underwent surgery to cure her congenital hydrocephalus who has been suffered for a long time. This condition happens because the hydrocephalus cerebrospinal fluid cannot be drained completely from the brain so that it meets the skull and change its shape.
Dr. Gregory Lakin, Head of Pediatric Plastic Surgery at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, said that if left unchecked for long time this condition will encourage further skulls and continue to add to the load on the brain, which in turn can lead to more severe disabilities may even death. According to Lakin, most physicians in the United States deal with cases of hydrocephalus by cutting one part of the skull to remove fluid from the skull and make a new one. Surely operations take longer and pose a new risk that the patient’s natural rejection of foreign material. Natural rejection by the body in turn will encourage the emergence of infection on the inside of the skull. As we have known, internal infection can cause other diseases like cancer and tumors.
Lakin added that the use of 3-D implant is required in cases where the bone does not have the strength to undergo a lengthy operation. The advantage of 3-D implant is located in its practical manufacturing process that can be made of the shelf and do not take too long time. According to him, this implant can be used at an early age before the skull develop optimally, namely at the age of 3 years. It is the interesting and quite encouraging fact that the 3-D implant does not affect the normal growth of the skull and the human brain so it is very safe to use. However, now the doctors are trying how to apply this new implant technology to wider patients of hydrocephalus.
Steven Myers
