Aosta hospital performs Italy's first silver-treated vertebral implant

Neurosurgeons at the Umberto Parini Regional Hospital in Aosta have performed Italy’s first implantation of a cervical vertebral prosthesis treated with silver. The procedure, conducted on September 30, involved a 54-year-old oncology patient suffering from a metastasis in the fifth cervical vertebra.

The metastasis had compromised the bone structure of the spine, causing instability and progressive compression of the cervical spinal cord, which affected nerve signals to the patient's arm. To address the high risk of infection common in oncology patients, the prosthesis was created using a specialized ionization process that bonds silver directly to a titanium surface. This combination provides structural strength while utilizing the antibacterial properties of silver to prevent the formation of biofilms and bacterial proliferation.