Efficacies of deep hypothermic preservation of autologous cranioplasty for children aged under 6 years

Abstract

Objective \nTo explore the clinical efficacies of deep hypothermic preservation of autologous cranioplasty for children aged under 6 years and to examine the influencing factors of its complications. \n \n \nMethods \nFrom 2015 to 2017, clinical data were reviewed for 18 children aged under 6 years undergoing deep hypothermic preservation and autogenous cranioplasty. The cause of removing bone flap was severe craniocerebral injury or spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage. Repair was all performed within 3 months. Cranial CT examination was performed at 1 week, 3 months and 12 months, 24 months postoperatively. During a follow-up period of over 12 months, clinical efficacy was evaluated by post-operative complications. \n \n \nResults \nNo postoperative infection or intracranial hemorrhage was found. Bone flap could form a bone connection with the surrounding bone window. All of them showed bone resorption of varying degrees, including bone resorption 25% (n=5) and complete resorption (n=2). The degree of bone absorption in children aged under 3 years was higher than that of those aged over 3 years. \n \n \nConclusions \nDeeply cryopreserved bone flap remains bioactive after replantation. Standard sterilization procedure can effectively avoid postoperative infection. Bone flap resorption is the biggest complication of this method and it is more pronounced under 3 years. \n \n \nKey words: \nChild;\xa0Defect of skull;\xa0Secondary;\xa0Craniumpatching