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CASE REPORT article

Front. Surg.
Sec. Orthopedic Surgery
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2024.1464049

Cardiac cement embolism and asymptomatic pulmonary embolism caused by percutaneous vertebroplasty for osteoporotic vertebral fracture: a case report

Provisionally accepted
Yang Yang Yang Yang Fei Qi Fei Qi *Long Q. Gong Long Q. Gong *Bo Wu Bo Wu *Jun Y. Feng Jun Y. Feng *Rong Zhang Rong Zhang *Kui Huang Kui Huang *
  • The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: As society ages, the incidence of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures steadily rises. Procedures like percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) and percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) have proven effective in significantly relieving pain in patients with these fractures. While PKP and PVP are minimally invasive, complications can still occur. However, most complications are not clinically significant, with cement leakage being the most common.We present the case of a patient with an osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture who underwent percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) and percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP). On the night following the procedure, the patient experienced transient discomfort in the chest, which resolved on its own. A chest CT scan the next day revealed a 5 cm arc-shaped high-density shadow near the right atrium, along with multiple high-density lung spots. After consulting with cardiothoracic surgery, interventional vascular surgery, and radiology experts, and discussing options with the patient and their family, a thoracotomy was recommended to remove the bone cement from the heart. However, the attempt was unsuccessful. Despite this, the patient made a good recovery and was successfully discharged.Conclusions: Vascular leakage of bone cement is a potentially life-threatening complication of PKP/PVP, and it warrants careful attention.

    Keywords: OVFC, PKP, PVP, intracardiac cement emboli, Pulmonary emboli

    Received: 13 Jul 2024; Accepted: 05 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yang, Qi, Gong, Wu, Feng, Zhang and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Fei Qi, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China
    Long Q. Gong, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China
    Bo Wu, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China
    Jun Y. Feng, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China
    Rong Zhang, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China
    Kui Huang, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, Jingzhou, China

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