Fat Pulmonary Embolism With Crazy-Paving Pattern Opacities and Pneumothorax: A Rare Complication of Liposuction

Yusra Ansari; Saad Ali Ansari; Maryam Hussain; Nisar Kazimuddin; Tahir Muhammad Abdullah Khan

doi:10.7759/cureus.40607

Fat Pulmonary Embolism With Crazy-Paving Pattern Opacities and Pneumothorax: A Rare Complication of Liposuction

Cureus. 2023 Jun 18;15(6):e40607. doi: 10.7759/cureus.40607. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Yusra Ansari¹, Saad Ali Ansari², Maryam Hussain³, Nisar Kazimuddin⁴, Tahir Muhammad Abdullah Khan⁵

Affiliations

¹ Internal Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Bowling Green, USA.
² Internal Medicine, University of California Riverside School of Medicine, Riverside, USA.
³ Internal Medicine, Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Upland, USA.
⁴ Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Med Center Health, Bowling Green, USA.
⁵ Pulmonary and Critical Care, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Bowling Green, USA.

Abstract

Fat embolism syndrome (FES) is a rare multiorgan disease caused by microvascular obstruction by fat globules and free fatty acid-mediated endothelial injury leading to pro-inflammatory cytokine release. We present a rare case of a 54-year-old woman who underwent elective aesthetic liposuction and developed FES and pneumothorax within 12 hours of the procedure.

Keywords: acute hypoxic respiratory failure; crazy paving pattern; liposuction complication; pneumothorax (ptx); pulmonary fat embolism.

Publication types

Case Reports