Cranioplasty with an autoclaved bone flap,with special reference to tumour infiltration of the flap

Summary The results of a total of 25 cranioplasties are reported. In 10 patients, a reinforced acrylic prosthesis was utilized. In the remaining 15 cases, the patient's own autoclaved bone flap was re-implanted. Six of these bone flaps were autoclaved to kill tumour cells, and was re-implanted during the same surgical procedure. In the remaining 9 patients, the flaps were removed to allow brain swelling, preserved in a freezer and re-implanted several months later. All the prostheses and re-implanted flaps were accepted by the patients without complications such as infections or resorption, and with cosmetically satisfying results. The tumour infiltrated flaps remained tumour free for the entire period of observation.