Abstract
BACKGROUND: FE, predominantly a respiratory disease, is thought to be the result of fat globules entering the bloodstream from tissue that has been disrupted by trauma but scarce information about the histopathology is available from clinical reports on pregnancy and other FE ‐ induced conditions.CASE REPORT: A 29‐year‐old Caucasian female, obese, with a complex medical history, underwent Cesarean section at 35 weeks gestation due to preeclampsia. Postoperatively, 53 hours after surgery, she was found dead. At necropsy, lungs showed edema, mononuclear and histiocytic cell infiltrate and scattered fat emboli (Oil Red O stain) in the lumen of small arteries and in air spaces. Early interstitial fibrosis mostly in the adventitia of the same vessels, peribronchial musculature and lobular septa was seen with trichrome stain, while smooth muscle actin was present in the media of medium size vessels, suggesting incipient fibrosis.CONCLUSION: The histopathological findings in lungs of this patient concur with the earlier reported findings in lungs of an animal model of fat embolism produced by i.v. triolein (J. Orthopedic Res, 28, 191‐197, 2010). Such histologic alterations may underscore the pulmonary pathobiology after pregnancy or other FE causes.
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