Puppy with fluid on the brain gets second shot at life.

Herbie, a French Bulldog puppy believed to have excess fluid on the brain, is learning to walk and stand on his own at a therapy center. Herbie, a French Bulldog puppy, may be just a few weeks old, but he's already shown he has a big, fighting heart. When Herbie was dropped off at the house of a woman who fosters dogs, he couldn't walk or stand. Handlers suspected Herbie has hydrocephalus, or water on the brain, a condition that often ends in euthanasia for dogs. In Herbie's case, it made his foster mom and rescue group, Road Dogs & Rescue, work harder to help the puppy. The rescue group brought Herbie to Two Hands Four Paws, a large canine rehabilitation center in Los Angeles. Staff there say his progress has been exciting to watch. They fitted him with a tiny wheelchair, and are teaching him how to walk. Staff say Herbie is getting stronger everyday. A neurologist who treated Herbie said when he's 6-months-old, he'll be eligible to have surgery to drain some of the excess fluid on his brain, possibly giving him the happy, healthy life of many dogs. Contributed by USA TODAY.

3D Printing Give Baby Born with Severe Cranial Defect a Future.

Bentley Yoder was never expected to survive. His mother, Sierra Yoder of Sugarcreek, Ohio, was well aware, when she went into labor on Halloween night 2015, that she would likely only get to hold her son for a few minutes before he passed away. She had known since the 22nd week of her pregnancy, when she went in for her normal ultrasound, and the doctor told her that something was very, very wrong. Something was wrong with the baby’s head, he told Sierra and her husband, Dustin, and sent them to a hospital for further tests. Neurosurgeons at the Canton hospital told the couple that their baby had a rare congenital condition called encephalocele, meaning that a portion of his brain was growing outside of his skull. About 375 babies, or one in 10,000, are born with the condition each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and while there are varying degrees of severity, the disease, needless to say, causes serious difficulties for children suffering from it: developmental delays, vision problems, seizures, and more. Bentley’s case fell into the severe category, meaning that he had a very slim chance of surviving long after his birth. Even if he did live, doctors said, he wouldn’t have any cognitive function. The Yoders were encouraged to think about abortion, and they agreed to terminate the pregnancy, not wanting their child to suffer when there was no hope of recovery. The night before the scheduled procedure, however, Sierra realized she couldn’t go through with it. She and Dustin agreed on a name for the baby – Bentley Ross Yoder – and doctors gave them brochures for funeral homes in the area. Nine hours after she went into labor on Halloween night, Bentley was born. His condition was immediately clear from the massive protrusion at the back of his head, but to his parents, he was perfect 36 hours later, however, family members were still holding the baby and passing him around. The doctors, unsure of how much longer Bentley would live, told his parents to take him home and arrange hospice care, which they did. Four weeks later, they took him to a specialist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. The specialist took some MRIs and told the Yoders that Bentley’s brain was too damaged for him to survive much longer. Four months later, the couple took Bentley to the Cleveland Clinic. For the first time, a surgeon gave them a sliver of hope – Bentley was using his brain, which had been already clear to Sierra and Dustin. Their baby, who doctors had said was going to be born a “shell,” unlikely to ever move or even breathe, was acting just like a normal baby – indistinguishable from their first son, Beau, other than the protrusion on his head, according to Sierra. The surgeon told them it was possible that Bentley’s brain could be placed inside his skull, though she didn’t know if he could survive the surgery.. The Yoders were referred to Boston Children’s Hospital, where they met with chief plastic surgeon Dr. John Meara and neurosurgeon Dr. Mark Proctor, who had plenty of experience with cranial deformities – and with 3D printing. The two surgeons were part of a team that reshaped the skull of a baby named Violet in 2014, in a surgery that was carefully pre-planned using 3D printed models. Drs. Meara and Proctor took the same approach with Bentley’s case, 3D printing models of his cranium and planning the delicate procedure that would allow his brain to be encased within his skull. According to Dr. Meara, Bentley had 100 cubic centimeters of brain outside of his skull – a significant amount that would require his cranium to be expanded for the tissue to fit inside. Using the 3D printed models, he and Dr. Proctor devised a plan to make several vertical slices in the cranium and insert biocompatible, dissolving plates to hold it open. The protruding part of Bentley’s brain – the portion that controls vision, motor function and problem-solving, would slip inside where it belonged. yoder On May 24, 2016, Bentley went into surgery. The surgeons drained excess cerebrospinal fluid from his brain, made the cuts in his cranium, and gently eased his brain inside. Then they closed the gap using leftover bone from the cuts. Five hours later, Sierra, Dustin and Bentley’s brother Beau went to see him in the recovery room. The delicate mass at the back of his head was gone, and now, a month later, his blond curls are growing back in. He’s also holding his head up, eating, smiling and chattering like any seven-month-old. It’s uncertain what life will be like for him as he grows up, but he will grow up, and the doctors told Sierra that they believe he will have a “rewarding life,” despite any challenges or complications may arise. Using 3D printing to successfully operate on a condition as severe as Bentley’s is a new phenomenon, and therefore lacks precedence to give doctors a clear idea of what lies ahead. Bentley himself has made it clear that he is a survivor, however, and Sierra said that a part of her always knew that Bentley was going to defy expectations. That’s why she decided not to end the pregnancy. Contributed by 3Dprint

3D PRINTING AND VETERINARY MEDICINE.

In PennDesign’s Fabrication Lab, students and faculty use three-dimensional printers to craft geometric forms, architectural models, and other products of the imagination. But in a recent collaboration with the School of Veterinary Medicine, the printers have been put to work making models based very much on reality. After examining a skull deformity afflicting a canine patient named Millie, Evelyn Galban, a neurosurgeon and lecturer in Penn Vet’s Department of Clinical Studies-Philadelphia, thought it would be useful to physically handle a replica of the dog’s skull. “It’s difficult to fully understand the malformation until we have it in our hands,” she says. “That usually doesn’t happen until we’re in surgery.” The expertise of PennDesign’s Stephen Smeltzer and Dennis Pierattini partnered with Galban, along with veterinary neurology residents Jon Wood and Leontine Benedicenti, to produce models that precisely replicate injuries or deformities of pet dogs and cats. These applications have the potential to improve training and patient care at Penn Vet, while stretching the imaginations of PennDesign students and faculty. Pierattini remarked they are very interested in finding more ways that can explore the potential of the equipment and fathom its depths. The veterinarians took CAT scan, then transformed CAT scan files into a format that the 3D printers could recognize.They produced the skull of Millie, composed of gypsum powder bound by acrylic and sealed with a super glue-like substance to make it rigid. These models could help vets like Evelyn Galban plot out and practice surgical procedures in advance of an operation. Full-color models may even allow for testing new approaches that avoid contact with critical blood vessels and other tissues. Read more;

http://www.upenn.edu/spotlights/3d-printing-veterinary-surgeries