Embolismo cerebral durante vuelo comercial: reporte de caso

David J. Orccosupa-Quispe; Fiorella D. Mendoza-Cabrera; Margot Mejía-Hurtado

doi:10.17843/rpmesp.2019.360.4179

Authors

David J. Orccosupa-Quispe Asociación Científica de Estudiantes de Medicina Humana de la Universidad Andina del Cusco (ACIEMH-Andina), Universidad Andina del Cusco. Cusco, Perú. Estudiante de Medicina
Fiorella D. Mendoza-Cabrera Asociación Científica de Estudiantes de Medicina Humana de la Universidad Andina del Cusco (ACIEMH-Andina), Universidad Andina del Cusco. Cusco, Perú. Estudiante de Medicina
Margot Mejía-Hurtado Departamento de Emergencia, Hospital Nacional Adolfo Guevara Velasco. Cusco, Perú. médico internista

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17843/rpmesp.2019.360.4179

Keywords:

Barotrauma, Air embolism, Stroke, Air travelling

Abstract

We present the case of a 25-year old man with a history of marijuana and tobacco consumption who, during a commercial flight to Cusco, presented dyspnea, loss of consciousness, and epileptic condition. He arrived in this city presenting arterial hypotension, abolished pulmonary murmur, with no recovery of consciousness. The thorax tomography revealed lung bullae and the tomography showed pneumocephalus. He was diagnosed with cerebral gas embolism. Hypoxemia associated with seizures and loss of consciousness in a young person during a flight is not a common event. Loss of cabin pressure during climb appears to be the triggering event in patients with lung disease.