Cerebral Air Embolism Causing Cerebrovascular Accident after CT-Guided Needle Lung Biopsy.

IF 0.4 Q4 CLINICAL NEUROLOGY

Case Reports in Neurology Pub Date : 2025-10-08 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.1159/000548040

Lucille J Wilkinson, Nick Kostrubsky, Cassie Crain Norris, Dilip Arcot, Samuel Crayton, Prathap Kumar Simhadri

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Abstract

Introduction: A CT-guided lung biopsy is a procedure to obtain tissue samples for lesion characterization and staging, but a rare and dangerous complication is a cerebral and systemic air embolism, which can cause ischemic organ damage.

Case presentation: We report a case of a 62-year-old male with adenocarcinoma of the right lung who underwent a CT-guided lung biopsy to assess for small cell transformation. During the final biopsy attempt, a suctioning sound was heard from the needle tip, and the patient immediately became unresponsive, experiencing hypotension, tachycardia, and hypopnea. Non-contrast CT showed intracranial and subcutaneous air emboli. The patient was intubated and transferred to the ICU, where he received hyperoxygenation therapy.

Conclusion: This case highlights that cerebral air embolism, although rare, can be a severe complication of CT-guided lung biopsy. Prompt recognition and treatment are essential for positive outcomes. As image-guided procedures increase, such cases may become more common, requiring further research.

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ct引导下肺穿刺活检后脑空气栓塞致脑血管意外。

ct引导下的肺活检是一种获取组织样本以进行病变特征和分期的方法，但一种罕见且危险的并发症是脑和全身空气栓塞，可导致缺血性器官损伤。病例介绍：我们报告一例62岁男性右肺腺癌患者，他接受了ct引导下的肺活检以评估小细胞转化。在最后一次活检时，从针尖传来吸痰声，患者立即变得无反应，出现低血压、心动过速和低通气。非对比CT显示颅内及皮下空气栓塞。患者插管后转至ICU，接受高氧治疗。结论：本病例强调了脑空气栓塞，虽然罕见，但可能是ct引导下肺活检的严重并发症。及时识别和治疗对取得积极结果至关重要。随着图像引导手术的增加，这类病例可能会变得更加普遍，需要进一步的研究。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Case Reports in Neurology Medicine-Neurology (clinical)

CiteScore

1.50

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

14 weeks

期刊介绍： This new peer-reviewed online-only journal publishes original case reports covering the entire spectrum of neurology. Clinicians and researchers are given a tool to disseminate their personal experience to a wider public as well as to review interesting cases encountered by colleagues all over the world. To complement the contributions supplementary material is welcomed. The reports are searchable according to the key words supplied by the authors; it will thus be possible to search across the entire growing collection of case reports with universally used terms, further facilitating the retrieval of specific information. Following the open access principle, the entire contents can be retrieved at no charge, guaranteeing easy access to this valuable source of anecdotal information at all times.