Cardiac tamponade and pulmonary embolism as a complication of percutaneous vertebroplasty

Abstract

Percutaneous vertebroplasty is a useful and safe therapeutic intervention to stabilize vertebral fractures. Rarely, cement leakage into the paravertebral venous system may result in embolization of its particles into the right cardiac chambers and pulmonary artery. We experienced a case of a 64-year-old woman who was diagnosed through echocardiography as having cardiac tamponade. Previously, the patient was treated for pulmonary cement embolization after percutaneous vertebroplasty. Prompt diagnosis and urgent surgery, in which a few linear cement particles of 1-cm to 2-cm long were discovered within the pericardial space, which resulted in a favorable outcome.