Contribution of three‐dimensional printed models to neurosurgery: Description of a feline intracranial meningioma treated by rostrotentorial craniectomy

Abstract

A 10‐year‐old, male, neutered, domestic shorthair cat with generalised tonic‐clonic seizures was suspected of parietal meningioma. After segmentation from computed tomography images, real‐scale three‐dimensional prints of the skull and tumour were made using stereolithography. Intraoperative use of this model enabled identification of the craniectomy margins and exposed suitable tumour edges. Debulking was straightforward with no serious complications such as severe haemorrhage or untreatable cerebral oedema. Recovery was uneventful, and the cat showed normal neurological status postoperatively. Based on histopathological findings, a meningioma was confirmed. This is the first report of a three‐dimensional printed resin anatomic model of the skull with an intracranial tumour in companion animals. Such three‐dimensional prints are easily designed, inexpensive and accurate tools to study anatomic features of the patient and improve surgical procedures. The simple three‐dimensional printed replica presented here is a starting point for more detailed prints and extended applications such as craniectomy and cranioplasty procedures in veterinary neurosurgery.