Images of the month: Pulmonary cement embolism

Abstract

Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) involves injection of polymethylmethacrylate bone cement into vertebral body for relief of pain and strengthening of bone in symptomatic vertebral compression fractures.Passage of bone cement into vertebral venous plexus and then into the lungs is a rare and serious complication of PV. The reported incidence up to 26%.We present an incidental finding of pulmonary cement embolism (PCE) after PV. A 68-year-old woman with history of PV 3 years previously for T11 osteoporotic fracture presented to us with cough for 3 weeks following choking on a fish bone.Chest X-ray showed left lower zone consolidation and a high-density opacity in a tubular branching pattern, corresponding to pulmonary arterial distribution. Contrasted computed tomography of the thorax showed segmental pulmonary cement embolism of both lungs and left lower lobe consolidation.She underwent bronchoscopy with findings of a purulent secretion from the left lower lobe. Her symptoms resolved after 2 weeks of antibiotics. She was managed conservatively for the PCE as she remained asymptomatic.This case highlights the need for a standard post-PV chest X-ray, as patients with cement embolisms can be completely asymptomatic. Measures to minimise the risk of pulmonary cement embolisms during PV need to be taken.