Isobutyl-2-cyanoacrylate pulmonary emboli associated with occlusive embolotherapy of cerebral arteriovenous malformations.

Three patients had cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVM) treated by occlusive embolotherapy using isobutyl-2-cyanoacrylate (IBC). At necropsy two had asymptomatic IBC pulmonary emboli. The numbers of emboli and the size of pulmonary vessels occluded correlated roughly with an increasing frequency and volume of injectate made in the cerebral tissue. The extent of pulmonary vascular occlusion in one case suggests that pulmonary vascular hypertension could develop as a complication of this form of treatment.