Pulmonary Fat Embolism After Fat Grafting

Fat embolism syndrome (FES) is a clinical syndrome in which the obstruction of small blood vessels by fat emboli triggers a systemic inflammatory response, leading to organ dysfunction. Due to a lack of specific laboratory tests and physical examination, FES is clinically underdiagnosed. We report a case of a 39-year-old woman who presented with dyspnea that had developed after augmentation mammaplasty and vaginal tightening with autologous fat. Bedside transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) carried out in our emergency department evidently revealed right heart embolic material presumed to be fat. Based on echocardiography findings, combined with medical history and computed tomography pulmonary angiography images, a diagnosis of pulmonary fat embolism was made. This case presents valuable echocardiographic images and emphasizes the availability of bedside TTE in the diagnosis of fat embolism in a patient with dyspnea after plastic surgery, highlighting the value of bedside TTE in rapidly identifying pulmonary fat embolism.