Effect of cranioplasty on functional and neuropsychological recovery after severe acquired brain injury: Fact or fake? Considerations on a single case

Cranioplasty is performed, using autograft materials, to treat the “trephined syndrome” in patients previously submitted to craniectomy. Indeed, considerable improvements in neuropsychological deficits, control of convulsions and partial prevention of cerebral atrophy are achieved after this surgical procedure. We describe the pre-and post-operative neuropsychological and functional evaluation of a 30-year-old male patient who underwent cranioplasty following previous craniectomy for a subarachnoid hemorrhage due to a spontaneously ruptured aneurysm of the right middle cerebral artery.