Analysis of Long-Term Therapeutic Effect of Cryopreservation Cranioplasty

Chen, Lei; Jiang, Xu; Tan, Zhijian; Tan, Xinghui; Cao, Min; Yu, Rong; Gong, Xin

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Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society > Accepted Articles

Clinical Article

doi: https://doi.org/10.3340/jkns.2025.0229 [Accepted]

Analysis of Long-Term Therapeutic Effect of Cryopreservation Cranioplasty

Lei Chen¹, Xu Jiang¹, Zhijian Tan¹, Xinghui Tan², Min Cao², Rong Yu², Xin Gong¹

¹Department of Neurosurgery, Hunan Provincial People’s Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
²Research and Development Center, Hunan Chuang He Biotechnology Limited Company, Changsha, China

Correspondence

Xin Gong ,Email: gongxin574@126.com

Received: November 3, 2025; Revised: December 22, 2025 Accepted: January 5, 2026. Published online: January 9, 2026.
*Lei Chen and Xu Jiang contributed equally to this work.

ABSTRACT

Objective
: This paper sets out to observe the comprehensive clinical effect and advantages of cryopreserved autogenous skull replantation.
Methods
: We collected the data of 141 patients with skull defect. Among them, 111 patients underwent cryopreserved autogenous skull replantation, 68 cases were frozen without cryoprotectant and 43 cases were frozen with cryoprotectant. In addition, 30 patients received artificial skull repair. We collected several variables related to the occurrence of complications and explored their correlation, followed by clinical experiments.
Results
: After treatment, all incisions of 141 patients healed in the first stage, and there was no infection or need for a second operation. During the follow-up period, bone resorption occurred in some of the 111 patients with autologous bone repair. The hospitalization cost of patients with autologous bone repair is lower than that of patients with artificial material repair. Internal repair within 60 days (the time interval between decompressive craniectomy and cranioplasty, that is the cryopreservation time of the bone flap is within 60 days) and cryopreservation using cryoprotectant can effectively reduce the absorption rating of the skull. Among them, the absorption rate is higher in diabetic patients. As for clinical experiments results, the cell activity decreases and the apoptosis rate rises with freezing time.
Conclusion
: Revascularization was found in all the cryopreserved autogenous skulls after replantation. Cryopreservation can effectively reduce the absorption of autogenous bone.

Key Words: Cryopreservation · Skull · Cryoprotectant · Cranioplasty