PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Sarah Mills
AU  - Javier Pizones
AU  - Luis Rodrigo Merino Rueda
AU  - Gloria Talavera
AU  - José Miguel Sánchez-Márquez
AU  - Nicomedes Fernández-Baíllo
TI  - Cardiac Cement Embolism After Thoracic Kyphoplasty: Successful Conservative Treatment With 4-Year Follow-Up
AID  - 10.14444/8173
DP  - 2022 Feb 01
TA  - International Journal of Spine Surgery
PG  - 27--32
VI  - 16
IP  - 1
4099  - http://ijssurgery.com//content/16/1/27.short
4100  - http://ijssurgery.com//content/16/1/27.full
SO  - Int J Spine Surg2022 Feb 01; 16
AB  - Background The present case report describes a complication after a percutaneous spine surgery technique that is highly uncommon in clinical practice: a bone cement cardiac embolism. This rare complication emphasizes the importance of this case, which is also interesting considering the midterm follow-up. Documented cardiac embolisms published in the literature (which are scarce) describe the acute phase of these cases but lack follow-up. There are no systematic reviews on this topic, only case-by-case presentations, and surgeons are not aware of its real implications.Case We report a case of an 84-year-old man who developed sudden thoracic and spinal pain associated with 82% saturation and dyspnea a few hours after 4-level thoracic spine vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. Imaging revealed multiple bone cement embolisms in his lung and heart. Because the patient was hemodynamically stable, cardiologists recommended conservative treatment with low molecular weight heparin, without embolus removal. At 4-year follow-up, the patient remained asymptomatic.Conclusion Cardiac cement embolization following percutaneous techniques represents a life-threatening situation that should be ruled out if the patient presents symptoms during the early postoperative period. Treatment may vary from conservative to emergency open-heart surgery.