Persistent Air Embolism after Blunt Chest Trauma with Recovery to Pre-Existing Consciousness Level: A Case Report and Literature Review

Abstract

We report the case of a 71-year-old woman in whom cerebral air embolism resulted from blunt chest trauma. The woman had been lying on her left side for a while after the injury, and air traveled to the right side of the brain. As a result, a cerebral infarction occurred in the right cerebral hemisphere that caused loss of consciousness for more than 40 days. The patient recovered consciousness eventually; thus, it is important to monitor the improvement in a patient's state of consciousness, with repeated multi-modality imaging evaluations over a long period.

Keywords

• blunt chest trauma
• cerebral air embolism
• cerebral infarction
• pulmonary contusion