Explanted Skull Flaps after Decompressive Hemicraniectomy Demonstrate Relevant Bone Avitality-Is Their Reimplantation Worth the Risk?

Our novel finding shows a clear benefit from storage at -80° C, which should be carefully considered for the future management and storage of explanted skull flaps. Our analysis also further revealed a significant degree of bone avitality, a potential precursor of BFR, in skull flaps stored for several weeks. To this end, we should reconsider whether the reimplantation of autologous skull flaps instead of synthetic skull flaps is still justified.