Case report. Pulmonary embolism with bone cement as a complication after percutaneous vertebroplasty

A clinical case of pulmonary artery branches embolism with bone cement deposits after lumbar vertebral hemangioma's percutaneous vertebroplasty is presented. Pulmonary artery embolism with bone cement is a frequent, but not always clinically significant complication of vertebroplasty. However, some patients have severe and even life-threatening complications like massive thromboembolism in the pulmonary artery and heart chambers, so postoperative screening after percutaneous vertebroplasty is very important. The most common methods for visualizing embolic occlusions of pulmonary artery branches with bone cement are X-ray and computed tomography. Computed tomography is rightfully considered the gold standard for diagnosing pulmonary embolism, but modern digital X-ray also successfully identifies bone cement deposits in the pulmonary arteries. X-ray is an inexpensive, accessible and objective method of examination and can be used as a postoperative screening. The purpose of this report is paying attention to the possibilities of classical X-ray in visualizing pulmonary artery's bone cement deposits after percutaneous vertebroplasty.

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