Fat embolism syndrome with pulmonary hemorrhage of unknown origin.

Jung, Hae Chul; Jung, Ki Hwan; Kim, Byung Gyu; Kim, Kyung Kyu; Lee, Sang Youb; Park, Sang Myun; Lee, Sin Hyung; Sin, Cheol; Cho, Jae Youn; Shim, Jae Jeong; In, Kwang Ho; Kim, Han Gyum; Yoo, Se Hwa; Kang, Kyung Ho

doi:2000.48.3.383

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 48(3); 2000 > Article

Original Article

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 2000;48(3):383-387.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2000.48.3.383 Published online March 1, 2000.

Fat embolism syndrome with pulmonary hemorrhage of unknown origin.

Hae Chul Jung, Ki Hwan Jung, Byung Gyu Kim, Kyung Kyu Kim, Sang Youb Lee, Sang Myun Park, Sin Hyung Lee, Cheol Sin, Jae Youn Cho, Jae Jeong Shim, Kwang Ho In, Han Gyum Kim, Se Hwa Yoo, Kyung Ho Kang

¹Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
²Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Fat embolism syndrome is a rare but serious complication occurring most of the time in patients with long bone fractures. And it occasionally occurs when patient had underlying disease. For example, pancreatitis, diabetes mellitus, alcoholic liver disease and connective tissue disease can be risk factors. The 44-year old woman visited to the Korea university hospital because of sudden dry cough, blood tinged sputum, and exertional dyspnea. We found petechiae on her anterior chest wall. Chest X-ray and CT showed patchy opacities and multifocal ground-glass opacities in both lung fields. Open lung biopsy demonstrated diffuse pulmonary hemorrhage and intravascular macrovesicular fat bubbles. After conservative management, her symptoms and radiologic findings were significantly improved. We report a case of fat embolism syndrome without any known risk factors.

Key Words: lung, embolism, fat embolism