Thorned heart. Description of a near-fatal cardiac embolism after percutaneous vertebroplasty


Submitted: 6 December 2019
Accepted: 26 March 2020
Published: 6 May 2020
Abstract Views: 682
PDF: 282
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Authors

Cement extravasation is a rather common complication of vertebroplasty, which can be observed in up to 30-40% of patients undergoing this procedure, further associated with venous leakage occurring in up to 24% of cases. Pulmonary embolism may eventually develop once the cement migrates within the pulmonary artery, and is the most common complication of cement extravasation (involving ~4.6% of patients). Intra-cardiac cement embolism is considerably less frequent, but is a potentially fatal complication, mostly managed with cardiac surgery. We describe here a rare case of near-fatal cardiac cement embolism, with a large fragment perforating the right ventricle and reaching the pericardium, who presented to the Emergency Department (ED) for syncope. The patient, who displayed this severe complication after a vertebroplasty procedure performed for osteoporotic compression fracture, needed cardiac surgery.


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Pigna, F., Calamai, S., Scioscioli, F., Buttarelli, L., Nicolini, F., & Cervellin, G. (2020). Thorned heart. Description of a near-fatal cardiac embolism after percutaneous vertebroplasty. Emergency Care Journal, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/ecj.2020.8739

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