Massive cerebrovascular air embolism during posttraumatic cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Air embolism is known to be a complicating factor in several clinical settings, including thoracic, cardiovascular, and neurosurgical operations; central line placement; and penetrating thoracic and cranial trauma. There are, however, only few case descriptions for cardiopulmonary resuscitation massive cerebral air embolism, and the frequency of this supposedly rare complication is unknown. Computed tomography is useful for showing cerebral air embolism. In this report, we present a 16-year-old adolescent girl with cerebrovascular air embolism on computed tomographic examination after a posttraumatic cardiopulmonary resuscitation and discuss the reasonable mechanisms of cerebrovascular air embolism.