We report a case of right ventricle perforation caused by bone cement embolism in an 86-year-old woman who had complained of progressive chest pain and fever for 6 days. She had a percutaneous vertebroplasty due to a compression fracture of L3–4, 5 years previously.
A chest X-ray obtained on admission showed a linear fishbone-like radiopaque material within the cardiac shadow ( Fig. 1 A). A computed tomography (CT) scan showed this structure to be stuck in the ventricular septum, penetrating the right ventricular free wall. There was no evidence of pulmonary cement embolism on chest CT scan. A transthoracic echocardiogram confirmed that the hyperechoic linear structure, embedded in the apical septal wall, showed lever-like movement with each heartbeat.
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