Major ischaemic stroke caused by an air embolism from a ruptured giant pulmonary bulla

BMJ Case Reports
Johanna F GudmundsdottirTomas Gudbjartsson

Abstract

We report an extremely rare complication of a major ischaemic cerebral event caused by an air embolism due to spontaneous rupture of a giant pulmonary bulla that occurred during an airline flight. Shortly after take-off, the patient experienced sudden right-sided hemiplegia and dyspnoea. Following an emergency landing in Reykjavik, a CT scan of the brain showed minute air bubbles consistent with air emboli within the left-sided intracerebral arteries, and MRI showed signs of acute ischaemic cerebral infarction in the left hemisphere. The patient later underwent a pulmonary lobectomy and survived this life-threatening complication with relatively mild neurological sequelae.

References

Feb 17, 2000·The New England Journal of Medicine·C M Muth, E S Shank
Jul 6, 2000·The New England Journal of Medicine·T D Coulter, H P Wiedemann
Dec 20, 2003·Chest Surgery Clinics of North America·Jacob A GreenbergLarry R Kaiser
Aug 7, 2013·Hong Kong Medical Journal = Xianggang Yi Xue Za Zhi·Jessie T H YeungVincent S C Lam

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Citations

Aug 16, 2016·The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. Le Journal Canadien Des Sciences Neurologiques·David BrennanSeamus Looby
Nov 11, 2017·Stroke Research and Treatment·Ciaran JudgeJoseph Harbison
Feb 25, 2020·The Korean Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery·Ha LeeSungsoo Lee

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