Skip to main content
Log in

Late Infection of Cranioplasty Presenting with Extradural Abscess Thirty Years After Surgery: a Case Report

  • Case Report
  • Published:
SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Delayed infection of cranioplasty is a rare complication which usually occurs 3 to 10 months after surgery. It causes subgaleal, extradural, and/or subdural abscess, with accompanied local signs of infection. Typically, systemic manifestations are absent and laboratory tests are negative. We describe a case of late infection of the cranioplasty occurring 30 years after surgery, which has never been reported before in the scientific literature. Thus, in the appropriate clinical scenario, it is important to consider this entity among the differential diagnosis even decades after cranioplasty. Late infection of cranioplasty is a rare complication which can happen even decades after surgery. To our knowledge, this is the first case reported of a late infection occurring 30 years after surgery.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

Data were taken from our Institution.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

CT :

Computed tomography

MRI :

Magnetic resonance imaging

References

  1. Brommeland T, Rydning PN, Pripp AH, Helseth E. Cranioplasty complications and risk factors associated with bone flap resorption. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. 2015;23:75. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13049-015-0155-6.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Gürbüz MS, Celik O, Berkman MZ. Infection of cranioplasty seen twenty years later. J Korean Neurosurg Soc. 2012;52:498. https://doi.org/10.3340/jkns.2012.52.5.498.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Benzel EC, Thammavaram K, Kesterson L. The diagnosis of infections associated with acrylic cranioplasties. Neuroradiology. 1990;32:151–3. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00588566.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Tokoro K, Chiba Y, Tsubone K. Late infection after cranioplasty: —review of 14 cases—. Neurol Med Chir (Tokyo). 1989;29:196–201. https://doi.org/10.2176/nmc.29.196.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Ryu JI, Cheong JH, Kim JH et al (2005) Delayed infection following cranioplasty: review of 4 cases. J Korean Neurotraumatol Soc. 1:110. https://doi.org/10.13004/jknts.2005.1.1.110.

  6. Ginat DT, Duhaime A-C. Imaging the postoperative scalp and cranium. In: Atlas of Postsurgical Neuroradiology. Berlin: Springer; 2012. p. 121–72.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  7. Kurland DB, Khaladj-Ghom A, Stokum JA, et al. Complications associated with decompressive craniectomy: a systematic review. Neurocrit Care. 2015;23:292–304. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12028-015-0144-7.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Yang XF, Wen L, Shen F, et al. Surgical complications secondary to decompressive craniectomy in patients with a head injury: a series of 108 consecutive cases. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2008;150:1241–8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-008-0145-9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

TP, AM, GdO, and AS examined and evaluated the patient. TP and MF designed the study and wrote the draft. TP and MF contributed to the acquisition and analysis of the clinical data and the interpretation of the clinical data. TP, MF, and AM participated in the design of the case-report and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Teresa Perillo.

Ethics declarations

Ethics Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional.

Consent to Participate

Consent to participate was obtained.

Consent for Publication

Written consent for publication was obtained.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Imaging

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Perillo, T., Fedele, M., D’Onofrio, G. et al. Late Infection of Cranioplasty Presenting with Extradural Abscess Thirty Years After Surgery: a Case Report. SN Compr. Clin. Med. 5, 182 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42399-023-01524-x

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42399-023-01524-x

Keywords

Navigation