Systemic fat embolism and the patent foramen ovale—A prospective autopsy study

Abstract

A fat embolism is a known and common complication of blunt force injuries, especially pelvic and long bones fractures. The aim of this study was to determine the importance of a patent foramen ovale (PFO) in developing systemic fat embolism (SFE) and eventually fat embolism syndrome (FES) in patients suffering from orthopaedic blunt injuries and consequent lung fat embolism. The sample was divided: 32 subjects with a sealed foramen ovale (SFO), and 20 subjects with a PFO. In our sample, there was no difference in either the incidence of renal fat embolism in subjects with PFO compared to those with SFO (Fisher's exact test 0.228, p=0.154) or in the grade of renal fat embolism (Pearson Chi-square 2.728, p=0.435). However, there was a statistically significant correlation between the grade of lung fat embolism and the number of fractured bones for the whole sample (Spearman's rho 0.271, p=0.052), but no correlation between the grade of lung fat embolism and the ISS or NISS (Pearson correlation 0.048, p=0.736, and 0.108, p=0.445, respectively). In our study, the presence of fat emboli in the kidney, i.e. SFE, could effectively be predicted by the grade of lung fat embolism (the moderate and slight grades of lung fat embolism were better predictors than the massive one: logistic regression – Wald. Coeff.=11.446, p=0.003, Wald. Coeff.=10.553, p=0.001, and Wald. Coeff.=4.128, p=0.042), and less effectively by presence of PFO (Wald. Coeff.=2.850, p=0.091). This study pointed out that lung and SFE are not pure biomechanical events, so the role of a PFO is not crucial in developing a lung fat embolism into a systemic embolism: the fat embolism is more of a biochemical and pathophsyiological event, than a biomechanical one. The appearance of a patent foramen ovale associated with a systemic fat embolism should be less emphasised: maybe arteriovenous shunts and anastomosis between the functional and nutritive, i.e. systemic circulation of lungs play a more important role in developing a SFE than a PFO.