motor aphasia as a rare presentation of fat embolism syndrome; a case report

fat embolism syndrome is a clinical diagnosis, and diagnostic procedures are not specific. in every trauma patient, fat embolism syndrome has to be considered as a possibility and supportive treatment should begin as soon as possible. the authors reported a rare case of fat embolism syndrome whose only neurological symptom was motor aphasia. a young man sustained comminuted femoral shaft fracture following an accident presented dyspnea, motor aphasia and petechial rash. the po2 and o2 saturation were 53 and 91.1%. the body temperature was 38.5 °c. the hemoglobin decreased from 12.9 to 8.7 and platelet from 121000 to 84000 mg/dl. the pulse rate was 120 bpm. the ct scan and mri were normal. fat embolism syndrome was diagnosed according to both gurd and schonfeld criteria ruling out other possible causes. patient recovered completely. although rare, focal neurological symptoms and motor aphasia should be kept in mind as a part of diagnostic criteria.