ATYPICAL PRESENTATION OF FAT EMBOLISM SYNDROME IN AN IMMUNOCOMPROMISED PATIENT

ABSTRACT

SESSION TITLE Systemic Diseases with Deceptive Pulmonary Manifestations SESSION TYPE Rapid Fire Case Reports PRESENTED ON 10/18/2022 1225 pm - 0125 pm INTRODUCTION: Fat embolism is a syndrome that can occur during orthopedic procedures or fractures of the long bones, especially the femur and tibia. It can affect multiple organs, including the brain, skin, and lungs, causing the triad of altered mentation, petechiae, and hypoxemia. Here, we present a case of a 54-year-old woman at risk for graft versus host disease (GVHD) who presented with dyspnea a few weeks after an orthopedic procedure. Initial chest radiograph was notable for parenchymal infiltrates, and she was initially treated with antibiotics without improvement. CASE PRESENTATION A 54-year-old woman with a history of leukemia, stem cell transplantation years ago, GVHD (skin liver, ocular, oral, joints (not lung), with clinical and cytogenetic remission underwent total hip arthroplasty. Two weeks later, she developed lethargy and dyspnea and presented to the emergency department. She was found to have an elevated WBC of x19.5 k/ul (normal 4.1-9.3k/uL) with a left upper lobe consolidation on the chest radiograph (Figure 1). She was treated empirically for pneumonia and discharged with a 7-day course of levofloxacin. Despite completing the course of antibiotics, her dyspnea worsened, and she presented to the emergency department two weeks later with worsening hypoxemia. Computed tomography (CT) of the chest showed bilateral diffuse ground-glass opacities (GGOs) with patchy consolidations in a broncho-vascular distribution (Figure 2). She was negative for COVID-19, Influenza A, B and Legionella urinary antigen. The differential diagnosis included infection and GVHD among others. She underwent bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). The Gram stain and the culture did not suggest an infection. Pathology from BAL returned significant for reactive bronchial and squamous cells with lipid-laden macrophages. She was started on steroids. Her clinical status improved dramatically, and she was eventually discharged. At a 3-month follow-up her symptoms had improved. Her CT scan also showed significant improvement (Figure 3). DISCUSSION: Our case highlights the successful diagnosis of fat embolism in the lungs in a patient with complicated medical history. Fat embolism usually presents as ground glass opacities. However, the diagnosis was more challenging in this case due to a significant time lapse between her surgery and her presentation to the hospital. She also lacked the other common signs of fat embolism including altered mentation and skin changes. Therefore, other etiologies, such as GVHD, bacterial or viral infection were initially strongly considered. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnosis of fat embolism syndrome condition should still be suspected despite a delay from the initial surgery. Diagnosis in immunocompromised patients requires a detailed workup to rule out other etiologies. Reference #1 Johnson, M. J., & Lucas, G. L. (1996). Fat embolism syndrome. Orthopedics, 19(1), 41-49. Reference #2 Newbigin, K., Souza, C. A., Torres, C., Marchiori, E., Gupta, A., Inacio, J., … & Peña, E. (2016). Fat embolism syndrome state-of-the-art review focused on pulmonary imaging findings. Respiratory medicine, 113, 93-100. Reference #3 Swiatek, K., Kordic, G., & Jordan, K. (2018). An Unlikely Presentation of Fat Embolism Syndrome. Chest, 154(4), 686A. DISCLOSURES No relevant relationships by Raheel Anwar No relevant relationships by Boris Medarov