A seven-year-old girl born without a forehead has undergone life-changing surgery with the help of 3D printed technology.
Grace Kabelenga, from Ndola in Zambia, was born with a craniofacial abnormality, meaning her skull was literally split into two separate parts baring her brain. Since Grace’ birth her parents Ngula and Elijah were desperately seeking medical treatment that could cure their daughter.
The girl’s father Elijah said: “Grace’ eyes, the nostrils, the mouth they were all far apart. The nostrils were actually 13 centimetres apart. The brain was suspended and stuck to the hard palette on her mouth. You could physically see it outside just covered by a thin skin.”
When she was just 4 years old, surgeons removed a large part of her skull to correct the deformity and prevent her catching infection. But it was not enough.
Eventually, after seven years of waiting and looking for the proper treatment the child was offered a revolutonary implant surgery in Cape Town, South Africa.
After the operation her mother, Ngula, said: “I’m very happy to see her, she looks beautiful and she has really changed. When we get home there’s going to be a big celebration.”
And father added: “Every day she is still improving. When her immune system is really strong, then we can say now Grace can go out and mingle with any other person.”
Specialists at Tygerberg Hospital used CT scans to construct a 3D model of Grace’s skull and a latticed framework that was later implanted above her brain to encourage the bone to grow around and regenerate. In several months the implant will be fully absorbed and a new skull will be created.
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