A Case of Fat Embolism Syndrome of Fat Globules Found in BAL Fluid after Recovery from Acute Respiratory Failure.

Park, Song Ree; Kim, Hyun Soo; Lee, Jae Hyung; Kim, Sang Heon; Kim, Tae Hyung; Yoon, Ho Joo; Park, Sung Soo; Shin, Dong Ho; Park, Chan Kum

doi:2006.61.6.562

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 61(6); 2006 > Article

Case Report

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 2006;61(6):562-566.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2006.61.6.562 Published online December 1, 2006.

A Case of Fat Embolism Syndrome of Fat Globules Found in BAL Fluid after Recovery from Acute Respiratory Failure.

Song Ree Park, Hyun Soo Kim, Jae Hyung Lee, Sang Heon Kim, Tae Hyung Kim, Ho Joo Yoon, Sung Soo Park, Dong Ho Shin, Chan Kum Park

¹Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. shindh@hanyang.ac.kr
²Department of Pathology, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Fat embolism syndrome is a rare clinical diagnosis of dyspnea with acute respiratory failure and neurological signs caused by a traumatic long bone fracture. We report a case of fat embolism in a 22 year-old man after a traffic accident. Dyspnea and stuporous mental changes developed on the 1st day after the external fixation operation of a left metaphyseal femur fracture. On the following day, he was transferred from a hospital to this one because of acute respiratory failure. After recovery, macrophages with fat droplets were found in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid 1. It is important to diagnose a fat embolism as the correct cause of acute respiratory failure through the BAL in the acute state of fat embolism syndrome It is believed that clinically apparent or sometimes hidden fat embolism syndrome can be diagnosed from the BAL during the recovery state.

Key Words: Fat embolism syndrome, Bronchoalveolar lavage, Fat globules, Acute respiratory failure