Reconstruction of anterior frontal wall and contours defects using bone substitute
Authors:   1 Unit of Maxillo-Facial Surgery, Istituto Stomatologico Italiano, Via Pace, 21, 20122 MILANO, Italy
Published: September 2021

Aim: The aim of this article is to report on the safety and long-term efficacy of Cerament® BoneVoid Filler bone substitute for repairing craniofacial bone defects. Post-traumatic cranioplasty is a complex and challenging procedure for all maxillo-craniofacial surgeons and neurosurgeons, especially when repairing large areas. The standard criterion for repairing small cranial defects is the use autogenous bone from the iliac crest or split calvarial grafts. Autogenous grafts may result in donor-site morbidity, increased surgical time, reabsorption, blood loss, and longer recovery time . Alloplastic materials used for bone repair, such as methyl methacrylate, hydroxyapatite, titanium, or porous polyethylene, are expected to have optimal properties, including easy adaptation, biocompatibility, ingrowth of new tissue, stability of shape, and low rate of reabsorption. A cranial implant should be easily shaped and positioned, allowing easy tissue growth. In very wide cranium defects the new technology is a custom made cranial implant constructed three-dimensionally with different types of materials. However, this procedure is very expensive with various infection rates depending on the kind of material used and on the chemicophysical composition of the implant. Methods: The authors report the case of a 50-year-old man with a severe deformity of the forehead-supra orbital area as a result of a previous complex fronto-facial trauma treated in an emergency Unit. Secondary correction and reconstruction of the residual deformities were performed by using Cerament® Bone Void Filler, an alloplastic biphasic material, composed of 40% hydroxyapatite, 60% calcium sulfate and the radio-contrast agent iohexol. The unique ratio of hydroxyapatite and calcium sulfate is designed to enable Cerament to resorb at the same rate that bone forms. Calcium sulfate acts as a resorbable carrier for hydroxyapatite which is highly osteoconductive, promoting bone ingrowth.It seems to be a promising bone graft substitute in the management of bony irregularities in the fronto-orbital area. Conclusion: The patient was first hospitalized as the result of a serious craniofacial trauma. One year after the first emergency cranio-orbital reconstructive operation, a marked deformity of the frontal region appeared with a “grid effect” due to the inadequate plate-bony fixation of the fractures applied during the first bony recomposition and because it was not as rigid as it should have been . A secondary surgery for deformity correction was performed. The hardware was totally removed and the bony deformity smoothed, reshaped, covered and filled using Cerament® Bone Void Filler, a biomaterial. The patient recovered with a satisfactory cranium-forehead shape, no complications, and complete disappearance of a frowning look of the fronto-orbital region. Recently, increased use of bone substitutes in the reconstruction of bone defects has been fuelled by donor site complications associated with autologous bone harvesting. Cerament® BoneVoid Filler is a biphasic and injectable bone substitute that has a highly compressive strength and the ability to promote cancellous bone healing