TITLE:
Titanium Rib Plate Technique for Huge Chest Wall Reconstruction
AUTHORS:
Yong Han Yoon
KEYWORDS:
Chest Wall Reconstruction, Titanium Plate, Chondrosarcoma
JOURNAL NAME:
Surgical Science,
Vol.2 No.6,
August
16,
2011
ABSTRACT: Chest wall reconstruction after en-bloc tumor resection is very important to preserve functional mobility and to enhance the cosmetic effect. Because they are flexible and pliable, titanium plates are proposed to reconstruct the chest wall, even though such chest wall reconstruction has been performed in only a few cases worldwide. We present a case of a 49-year-old man with a chondrosarcoma arising from the left 1st rib, invading the manubrium, clavicle, 2nd and 3rd ribs, and the anterior segment of the left upper lobe. After wide resection, the chest wall was reconstructed using titanium rib plates and Marlex mesh- the Bovine pericardium sandwich type. The patient tolerated the pain well, and fourteen months after surgery, the chest wall was well preserved function mobility and improved pulmonary function test.