[Cerebral fat embolism after closed leg injury]

A 21-year-old man sustained a closed fracture of the leg from an industrial accident, without associated head trauma. The orthopaedic treatment consisted of immediate immobilization by setting leg in plaster. Two hours after admission, the Glasgow coma scale score was 10. Four hours after admission he developed a coma (Glasgow coma scale score = 7) with repetitive seizures. No lesion was visible on cerebral CT scan. Chest X-ray was unremarkable. Petechiae on the anterior chest wall and abdomen with bilateral mydriasis occurred. Thrombocytopenia with prothrombine time increase were observed. Magnetic resonance imaging, 27 hours after admission, showed high-intensity areas on T2 weighted views due to fat embolism. Retinal haemorrhages were observed. The bronchoalveolar lavage showing fat staining of tracheal aspirates confirmed the diagnosis of fat embolism. This case report emphasizes the possibility of predominant neurologic manifestations of a fat embolism and the diagnostic help of cerebral magnetic resonance imaging.