Several months ago, a young man, 21 years old, was rushed to Shaare Zedek after suffering from a series of seizures in his home. He was quickly diagnosed with bacterial meningitis that was causing intracranial pressure. Medications did not work, his condition declined and he was eventually sedated and put on a respirator.
Neurosurgeon Dr. John Whinestone explained, “We are talking about a rare case where the infection was so strong that it resulted in an increase in intracranial pressure and put his life at risk. Few patients with such symptoms survive. ..”
The patient was rushed to the emergency room where the doctors relieve the intracranial pressure, removed the area with the infection which included 15 centimeters from his skull. Recently, a new piece was implanted in place of the piece of the skull that was removed. This implant has been created on a 3D printer and was designed to perfectly match this specific patient’s needs.
Dr. Nevo Margalit, Head of our Neurosurgery Department shared, “Today, this young man is walking, talking, drinking and can function, something that is very hard to believe when one thinks back to those very tough hours during the night that he was first brought to the hospital.”
