BACKGROUND A few studies have found that abnormal findings on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are useful for diagnosing cerebral fat embolism in the acute stage. CASE REPORT We applied serial MRI to a case of cerebral fat embolism with cognitive impairment lasting for 2 months. Although marked resolution of the previous abnormal findings was demonstrated, T2*-weighted grad...

Seven cases are reported of death in old people associated with transcervical fractures of the femur and occurring shortly after insertion of a Thompson prosthesis. They are compared with six fatalities following similar injury but not surgically treated and with three which followed internal fixation. Positive controls for massive fat embolism were selected from fatal cases of multiple and sev...

who had sustained fat embolism. For the purposes of the present investigation three blood samples were taken from an arm vein in each patient; the first after the induction of anaesthesia but before insertion of the pertrochanteric needle; the second five minutes after the first injection of contrast material; and the third 20 minutes later. The blood was allowed to clot and the plasma then exa...

The fat embolism syndrome (FES) has been considered a diagnostic enigma since it was first described a century ago. It has continued to beach allenging diagnosis to secured espite many technologic advances. The difficulty with which to diagnose FES stems from the fact that it can complicate an array of clinical presentation with a variable severity of illness. Although simple fat embolism may b...

Cerebral fat embolism syndrome (CFES) is a neurologic syndrome occurring in up to 60% of patients with fat embolism syndrome (FES). The defining features of FES include respiratory, neurologic and dermatologic features. The classical explanation is release of fat emboli into the circulation after long bone fractures, but the clinical syndrome of FES only occurs in 0.5-3% of cases, typically wit...

We describe 3 cases of cerebral fat embolism associated with cardiac surgery. The autopsy findings suggested that in 2 cases, the embolic fat globules entered the systemic circulation directly as a result of protrusion of epicardial fat into the left atrial chamber along the suture line in one case, and through an atrial septal defect in the other. The characteristic latent interval between sur...

The incidence of clinical fat embolism syndrome (FES) is low (<1%) whilst fat embolism (FE) of marrow fat appears to occur more often (Mellor and Soni (2001)). Paradoxical brain FE may occur in patients undergoing hip orthopedic surgery who have an undocumented patent foramen ovale (PFO). We report a case of an eighty-year-old male patient, who underwent a scheduled revision hip surgery sufferi...

Fat Embolism (FE) develops in 90% of all bone fractures. Fat Embolism Syndrome (FES) is a serious manifestation of FE with an incidence of 0.5-2.0% among all long bone fractures. It is believed to be caused by the toxic effects of free fatty acids but still, there is considerable controversy over both the source of fat emboli and their mode of action [1]. The exact pathogenesis is unclear but i...

1. Naidich TP, Daniels DL, Pech P, Haughton VM , Williams A, Pojunas K. Anterior commissure: anatomic-MR correlation and use as a landmark in three orthogonal planes. Radiology 1986;158 :421-429 2. Strich SJ. Diffuse degeneration of the cerebral white matter in severe dementia following head injury. J Neural Neurasurg Psychiatry 1956;19 :163-185 3. Nevin NC. Neuropathological changes in the whi...

The initial symptoms are probably caused by mechanical occlusion of multiple blood vessels with fat globules that are too large to pass through the capillaries. The vascular occlusion in fat embolism is often temporary or incomplete, as fat globules do not obstruct capillary blood flow completely because of their fluidity and deformability. The late presentation is thought to be a result of hyd...