title: Perforation of the right cardiac ventricular wall by polymethylmethacrylate after lumbar kyphoplasty.
abstract: The authors report the case of a 74-year-old woman who underwent an L-2 vertebral kyphoplasty. The patient experienced delayed postoperative hemodynamic deterioration that may have been caused by embolization of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) cement through the right cardiac ventricular wall. Cardiac and pulmonary embolization of bone cement can develop as a complication of vertebral kyphoplasty. Surgeons should be alert to this potentially life-threatening condition when performing this increasingly popular form of spine procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York 14642, USA. arash_farahvar@urmc.rochester.edu
authors.forename: Arash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farahvar
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dubensky
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bakos
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001843:Bone Cements / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D005260:Female; D050815:Fractures, Compression / Q000601:surgery; D006335:Heart Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000601:surgery*; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000601:surgery*; D054854:Vertebroplasty / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D001843:Bone Cements; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate