Cerebral air embolism associated with cavitary lung lesion in a patient with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

Abstract

Pneumocephalus, is a general term describing the presence of air within the intracranial structures. It most commonly occurs due to dural injury, often the sequela of head trauma or surgery. More infrequently, nontraumatic pneumocephalus can be related to infection, Valsalva, fistulization between air-containing organs and intracranial structures, or vascular air embolism. While postsurgical pneumocephalus is often benign, serious consequences of pneumocephalus exist, including tension pneumocephalus and cerebral infarction. We present a case of air embolism and cerebral infarction in a patient with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, found to have large cavitary lesion in the left upper lobe of the lung, with associated pulmonary vascular malformation seen on bronchoscopy. To our knowledge this is the first reported case of air embolism associated with a pulmonary cavitary lesion and vascular malformation, in a patient with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

Keywords

• Cerebral air embolism
• stroke
• Ehlers Danlos syndrome
• Cavitary lung lesion
• Pulmonary vascular malformation