SYMPTOMATIC PATIENTS AFTER CRANIECTOMY

Various surgical procedures in neurosurgery end with cranial vault def ects. It is generally believed that the reason for repair of the skull defect is cosmetic or protective. There is evidence, however, that in selected cases neurologic deterioration can be reversed by cranioplas ty. In the sinking scalp flap syndrome the deterioration has been thou ght to be related to the concavity of the skin flap and underlying bra in tissue secondary to atmospheric pressure and also to the in-and-out displacement of the brain through the skull defect. Five cases of sym ptomatic patients after craniectomy are reported, of which all had a n eurologic deterioration that was improved by cranioplasty. (C) 1997 by Elsevier Science Inc.