Systemic air embolism detected during percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy: report of two cases and a proposal for a routine postprocedure computed tomography scan of the aorto-cardiac region.

Systemic air embolism is a rare but potentially fatal complication of percutaneous transthoracic biopsy. Herein, we report two cases of nonfatal air embolism that occurred during a computed tomography (CT)-guided lung biopsy. It can be concluded that postprocedure CT scans of the aorto-cardiac region and attention focused on systemic air on CT scan images during biopsy procedures can be helpful for early recognition of the complication, a step that is important for successful treatment. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.