Record-breaking surgery in Caserta: major craniofacial surgery restores sight to a 41-year-old man.

A highly complex and perfectly successful operation. It was performed at the Sant'Anna e San Sebastiano Hospital in Caserta, where a multidisciplinary team from the Head and Neck Department completed a craniofacial operation that saved the sight of a 41-year-old patient, who was threatened by a rare and large growth extending from the orbit into the anterior cranial cavity.

Working side by side during a procedure that lasted several hours were the Maxillofacial Surgery, Neurosurgery, and Ophthalmology teams, led respectively by Pasquale Piombino, Pasqualino De Marinis, and Valerio Piccirillo, with the support of the anesthesiology team led by Pasquale De Negri. This six-person synergy enabled the treatment of a lesion located in an area where a few millimeters can make the difference between vision loss and severe neurological damage.

The highly invasive pathological mass involved extremely delicate structures: the eyeball, the optic nerve, the extraocular muscles, the meninges, and a portion of the frontal lobe. This condition seriously endangered not only the patient's visual function but also his neurological integrity.

To address such a challenge, surgeons used the most advanced technologies available today:

intraoperative navigation to orient oneself in a complex anatomical area,

piezosurgery for millimetric sections of bone tissue,

Preoperative planning with dedicated software and 3D models printed in the laboratory, thanks to which the surgery was simulated in detail before entering the operating room.

A meticulous preparation that allowed the neoplasm to be completely removed while preserving all vital structures and restoring full visual function to the patient.

Volpe: "Proof of the value of our healthcare system"

Satisfaction was expressed by the general director of the Caserta Hospital, Gennaro Volpe, who called the operation "a story of good healthcare and a model of professional excellence."

"This project," Volpe emphasizes, "confirms the Caserta AORN as a regional reference point for highly specialized services. Integrated care pathways, precision medicine, and technological innovation remain our top priorities, in the pursuit of humanizing care."

The manager praised the teams involved, "who, with their expertise, experience, and impeccable teamwork, ensured the patient not only recovered, but also was able to look to the future with optimism."