Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2012 Jul;22(4):571-4.
doi: 10.1111/j.1750-3639.2012.00606.x.

11 year-old girl undergoing scoliosis surgery

Fabio De-Giorgio, Vincenzo Arena, Francesco Turturro, Ernesto d'Aloja, Massimo Miscusi
Case Reports

11 year-old girl undergoing scoliosis surgery

Fabio De-Giorgio et al. Brain Pathol. 2012 Jul.

Abstract

We report the case of an 11-year-old girl operated on for a severe left thoracolumbar scoliosis. Pedicular screw insertion and rod positioning was technically successful, but five days later, for signs of an early infection, the wound revised and unexpectedly the patient died during surgery. Autopsy recognized a diffuse cerebral cortical venous air embolism as the cause of death and excluded pulmonary embolism and associated cardiac defects.This is the first and unique case describing a fatal paradoxical air venous cerebral embolism in a pediatric patient undergone spine surgery: the possible mechanism involving azygos and jugular veins systems is discussed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 4
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Brown J, Rogers J, Soar J (2001) Cardiac arrest during surgery and ventilation in the prone position: a case report and systematic review. Resuscitation 50:233–238. - PubMed
    1. Despond O, Fiset P (1997) Oxygen venous embolism after the use of hydrogen peroxide during lumbar discectomy. Can J Anaesth 44:410–413. - PubMed
    1. Eck JC, Humphreys SC, Patil VD, Hodges SD, Clarke SE, Davare JR (2006) Paradoxical embolus causing transient bilateral blindness following spinal surgery. Am J Orthop 35:527–529. - PubMed
    1. Morikawa H, Mima H, Fujita, Mishima S (1995) Oxygen embolism due to hydrogen peroxide irrigation during cervical spinal surgery. Can J Anaesth 42:231–233. - PubMed
    1. Pham Dang C, Péréon Y, Champin P, Delécrin J, Passuti N (2002) Paradoxical air embolism from patent foramen ovale in scoliosis surgery. Spine 27:E291–E295. - PubMed

Substances