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Updated: Jan 25, 2026
3D Planning and Printing of Patient Specific Implants for Reconstruction of Bony Defects
Published on: August 4, 2020
Application of Individualized 3D-Printed Artificial Vertebral Body for Cervicothoracic Reconstruction in a Six-Level
Xinghai Yang1, Wei Wan, Haiyi Gong
1Second Military Medical University, Changzheng Hospital, Spine Tumor Center, Department of Orthopedic Oncology, Shanghai, China.
Aim:
To present the surgical planning, manufacturing and implantation of an individualized 3D-printed prosthesis for cervicothoracic reconstruction 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 prosthesis was 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 recurrence was 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 individualized 3D-printed artificial vertebral body in a six-level recurrent chordoma. Customized design of the prosthesis helps to address the difficulty in fixation and simplify the surgical procedure. In the spinal transition point where solid fusion is hard to achieve, an individualized 3D-printed implant may exhibit excellent primary stability. Accordingly, this study believes that such burgeoning technique shows a promising prospect in complicated spinal oncology surgery.
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