Description
Clinical History
A 56-year old male underwent a total gastrectomy and splenectomy for gastric adenocarcinoma. Over a period of two months he developed a progressively unsteady gait, increasing weakness of his left hand and frontal headaches associated with nausea and vomiting. Imaging revealed a lesion in the right frontal lobe. He underwent a craniotomy with resection of the lesion, which was confirmed metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma. He experienced gradual increasing symptoms as well as jaundice, deteriorating consciousness and papilloedema from increased intracranial pressure. Repeat imaging revealed recurrence of the right frontal metastatic lesion as well as liver metastases. The patient died 9 months after his initial gastrectomy surgery.
Pathology
This brain specimen is cut in the coronal plane. A circumscribed, variegated, pink-grey tumor is evident in the right frontal lobe. The tumor is involving the grey and white matter. Compression of the right lateral ventricle by the lesion is apparent with shift of the midline structures also seen.
Further Information
Stomach cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Risk factors include male gender, diet, smoking and chronic Helicobacter pylori infection. The most common sites for metastases of gastric adenocarcinoma are the liver, peritoneum, lungs and bones. Brain metastases are rare, occurring in <1% of cases. Isolated brain metastases are very uncommon with them being more commonly seen in disseminated disease and associated with a poor prognosis. Palliative treatment may include surgery, radiotherapy, steroid, chemotherapy or a combination thereof.
Advantages
- Anatomically accurate and identical to real specimen
- No ethical issues - not real human body parts
- Reasonably priced
- Available within a short lead time
- Reproducible, several identical prints can be used as a classroom set
- Can be produced in different sizes to cater for the needs of the teacher
Human Cadavers
- Access to cadavers can be problematic. Many countries cannot access cadavers for cultural and religious reasons
- Cadavers cost a lot money
- High cost for establishing your own plastination suite
- Wet specimens cannot be used in uncertified labs
- Dissection of cadavers is a lot of staff time and that is a cost
- Storage of cadaver material needs special refrigeration etc. which has coast
- If you want another specimen you have to start all over again
Plastinates
- Costs
- Ethical issues
- Timeframe for plastination process
- Many countries do not allow their importation
- One of a kind
Superior 3D print results compared with conventional methods
- Vibrant color offering with 10 million colors
- UV-curable inkjet printing
- High quality 3D printing that can create products that are delicate, extremely precise and incredibly realistic
Clear Support Material
- To avoid breakage of fragile, thin, and delicate arteries, veins or vessels, a clear support material is printed on such spots. This makes the models robust and can be handled by students easily.
