Phoenix hospital becomes state’s 1st to use innovative brain surgery implant
Nov 19, 2024, 4:45 AM
An Arizona patient became the first in the state to receive a Longeviti Clearfit cranial implant, thanks to Dr. Peter Nakaji at Banner - University Medical Center Phoenix. (Banner Health Photos)
PHOENIX — A 17-year-old girl from Mesa became the first Arizona patient to receive a new brain surgery implant earlier this year, according to Banner Health.
Esli Neri Jacome woke up feeling weak after a stroke in early February. After she went to Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, she suffered from a ruptured arteriovenous malformation.
This life-threatening health issue emerges due to a rare tangle of blood vessels in the brain.
After her second stroke, she went into emergency surgery. This process required surgeons to remove a part of her skull.
“I felt scared because I didn’t know what was going to happen to me,” Esli said in a Banner Health news release last week.
Esli needed further treatment after being released from the hospital.
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Dr. Peter Nakaji with Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix near McDowell Road and 7th Street provided her follow-up care.
Nakaji placed Longeviti’s ClearFit Custom Cranial Implant into Esli’s skull. This intracranial device replaced the missing skull bone surgeons removed during Esli’s emergency treatment in Mesa.
This new brain surgery implant was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2021.
How did new brain surgery implant help Mesa teen who had 2 strokes?
Not only did it complete her skull, but it also will give future surgeons a window into her brain — without having to conduct an ultrasound.
“The device is used to create a replacement for missing bone in the skull,” Nakaji said in the release.
This means stroke victims like Esli who receive this implant may not need to go through regular scans after their surgeries.
“The advantage is that we can look through this device at the brain with an ultrasound, so we can see what is going on as often as we need to, without doing a full CT scan,” Nakaji said.
It’s been months since Esli became the first Arizona patient to have this implant placed in her skull. She’s now 18 and says her health is improving.
“I am still recovering but I have progressed a lot from when I had my stroke,” Esli said in the release. “I have gotten to the point where I can walk with my boot and cane.”
She’s now taking steps to return to the life she had before her strokes.
