Human dural replacement with acellular dermis: Clinical results and a review of the literature

Background. The search for the ideal dural replacement in the setting where autogenous tissues are unavailable or inadequate still persists. Because of the ability of acellular dermis (AlloDerm, LifeCell Corporation, The Woodlands, TX) to remodel itself into native tissue, this dynamic quality is hypothesized to occur when used as a dural replacement. Methods. We report the long-term outcome of a small cohort of patients who, to our knowledge, were the first patients to receive AlloDerm for dural replacement. In addition, to put these current findings in a historical perspective, we present a review of the literature for dural replacement. Results. Ten patients all successfully underwent duraplasty with AlloDerm with only one postoperative complication that was not related to the acellular dermal dural repair. Conclusions. We contend that AlloDerm is a safe and viable option for dural replacement in cases in which autogenous tissues are either unavailable or insufficient for proper reconstruction. (C) 2000 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.