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Cerebral Shift after Lateral Craniofacial Resection and Flap Reconstruction

The biomechanical effects on the cranial contents after craniectomy and immediate soft-tissue flop reconstruction are substantial and potentially life threatening. Once the rigid protective covering of the skull is removed, the cerebral component of the cranial contents is vulnerable to rising extrinsic pressure. Intracranial pressure falls, brain compliance rises, and contralateral cerebral shift may occur by virtue of the craniectomy alone. However, if flaps filling the defect should compress by weight or swelling, even greater midline or craniocaudal shift of the brain may occur. We present three cases in which midline cerebral shift was documented by CT scan after flop reconstruction of lateral craniofacial/cranlotemporal resection. Three other patients undergoing anterior craniofacial resection during the same time period for skin cancer (one patient) and esthesioneuroblastoma (two patients) had no shift in intracerebral contents. Symptomatic or asymptomatic intracranial shift may occur soon after substantial craniectomy and soft-tissue flap reconstruction. Midline shift from lateral resection and reconstruction is more likely than anteroposterior shift from anterior craniofacial resection. Strategies for minimizing this compression or shift are described.