Journal of Medical Cases, ISSN 1923-4155 print, 1923-4163 online, Open Access
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Case Report

Volume 11, Number 12, December 2020, pages 394-399


Cerebral Air Embolism: The Importance of Computed Tomography Evaluation

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1. Case 1. Axial NCCT (a) depicts multiple small hypodense foci located mainly in the right cortical sulci (white arrow). Follow-up brain MRI (48 h after the onset), axial DWI (b) shows extensive right frontoparietal cortical ischemic lesions (white arrow), with additional small left perirolandic cortex involvement. NCCT: non-contrast computed tomography; MRI: magnetic resonance imaging; DWI: diffusion-weighted imaging.
Figure 2.
Figure 2. Case 3. Brain axial NCCT (a) demonstrates filiform air hypodensities in the high convexity sulci (white arrow) and intraparenchymal with a vascular distribution, predominantly in the semioval center. Control brain axial NCCT scan (b) reveals intracranial air reabsorption and frontoparietal cortico-subcortical dedifferentiation (white arrow). Brain MRI axial DWI (c) shows bilateral fronto-parietal cortical diffusion restriction with the corresponding cortical hyperintensity on axial FLAIR image (d) and evidence of white matter vasogenic edema (white arrow). NCCT: non-contrast computed tomography; MRI: magnetic resonance imaging; DWI: diffusion-weighted imaging; FLAIR: fluid-attenuated inversion recovery.
Figure 3.
Figure 3. Case 4. Axial NCCT scan (a, b) demonstrates intracranial air, along the frontal cortical sulci (white arrows) and adjacent hypodense areas in frontal and parieto-occipital regions, revealing watershed infarcts (c, d) hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (white arrows). NCCT: non-contrast computed tomography.