Cerebral air embolism as a complication of computed tomography-guided marking of the lung: depiction of air inflow route from a pulmonary vein to the left atrium.
Air embolism in the arterial system is a very rare but potentially fatal complication of percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy or marking. We report a case of a patient with interstitial pneumonia associated with Sjögren syndrome, who presented with systemic arterial air embolism as a complication of computed tomography-guided marking of the lung. The air inflow route was depicted clearly on computed tomography from the peripheral pulmonary vein that crossed the needle pathway to the left atrium.
Department of Radiology, National Hospital Organization Himeji Medical Center, Himeji, Hyogo, Japan. thigashi@hotmail.co.jp
Takanori
T
Higashino
Satoshi
S
Noma
Yuko
Y
Nishimoto
Junki
J
Endo
Yoshio
Y
Taguchi
Toru
T
Shindo
D000368:Aged; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004618:Embolism, Air / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D020766:Intracranial Embolism / Q000150:complications*; D017563:Lung Diseases, Interstitial / Q000150:complications; D011667:Pulmonary Veins / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000009:adverse effects*