Application of Individualized 3D-Printed Artificial Vertebral Body for Cervicothoracic Reconstruction in a Six-Level Recurrent Chordoma

Özet

AIM: To present the surgical planning, manufacturing and implantation of an individualized 3D-printed prosthesis for cervicothoracicreconstruction in a six-level recurrent chordoma.MATERIAL and METHODS: A 40-year-old female patient with recurrent cervicothoracic chordoma was admitted in our center. Onestage tumorectomy was performed using the combined anterior and posterior approach, and a customized 3D-printed prosthesiswas anatomically installed on the defect with vertebral screws from C2 to T2.RESULTS: The whole procedure took 13 hours, and intraoperative blood loss was 7500 mL. The patient recovered uneventfully,and symptoms of pain and weakness of right upper extremity were significantly diminished postoperatively. No local recurrencewas found during 9-month follow-up, and no subsidence, displacement or fracture of the prosthesis was observed radiographically.CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of biomechanical reconstruction using an individualized3D-printed artificial vertebral body in a six-level recurrent chordoma. Customized design of the prosthesis helps to address thedifficulty in fixation and simplify the surgical procedure. In the spinal transition point where solid fusion is hard to achieve, anindividualized 3D-printed implant may exhibit excellent primary stability. Accordingly, this study believes that such burgeoningtechnique shows a promising prospect in complicated spinal oncology surgery.