Pulmonary Cement Embolism Following Percutaneous Vertebroplasty: A Case Report, Physiopathology and Literature Review

Vertebroplasty is a percutaneous and efficient technic for treatment of painful osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures, traumatic vertebral fractures or myeloma fractures [1,2]. The first vertebroplasty was performed by Galibert in 1984 so as to treat a vertebral angioma in C2. Vertebroplasty consists in cement injection in the vertebral body of the painful vertebra [3]. Although this procedure seems to be efficient to decrease the pain and to improve the functional recovery of patients, there are complications such as same level re-fracture, radicular injuries, and cement embolism [4]. Majority of these complications are secondary to cement leakages and/or a bad filling of the vertebral body. Pulmonary cement embolism are under-estimated because many of them are asymptomatic or can become symptomatic many years after the vertebroplasty [5].