Elucidation of the frequency of cerebral fat embolisms associated with long bone/pelvis fractures and development of treatment methods

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K18348
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 55060:Emergency medicine-related
• Research Institution: Gifu University
• Principal Investigator: MIYAKE Takahito 岐阜大学, 医学部附属病院, 助教 (70610434)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 脂肪塞栓症症候群 / 脳脂肪塞栓症 / 長管骨／骨盤骨折

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Fat embolism syndrome (FES) is a rare syndrome caused by embolization of fat particles into multiple organs such as skin, lungs, and brain, with little data on the incidence of cerebral fat embolism (CFE) in particular. In this study, the incidence of CFE in long bone and pelvis fractures was investigated using MRI in 62 patients who visited Gifu University Hospital from April 2016 to March 2020. Regardless of the presence or absence of clinical symptoms, 5.0% (3/60) of patients with femoral or pelvic fractures were diagnosed with CFE by MRI and 5.0% (3/60) were suspected to have CFE. This may indicate that CFE is more common in trauma patients than currently thought.

Free Research Field

救急集中治療医学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究により現在考えられている以上に、CFEが外傷患者に多く見られることが明らかとなった、FES/CFE の診断は臨床的であることが多く、より早期に達成されるべきであり、医師は、軽度の精神障害、せん妄を伴う外傷患者においても CFE の可能性があり、MRI が必要かもしれないと考えるべきであろうと考えられるため社会的意義は大きいと考えられる。現状では、FES/CFE の診断は困難である。今後、症状、MRI、その他の客観的所見と組み合わせた診断基準を決定する研究が必要である。