Susceptibility-weighted Angiography (SWAN) Imaging of Cerebral Fat Embolism: a case report

A 21-year-old woman had cerebral fat embolism (CFE) after long bone fractures. On susceptibility-weighted angiography (SWAN), an advanced MR technique different from susceptibility-weighted imaging, there were numerous punctate low signal intensities in the cerebral grey-white matter junction, subcortical white matter, internal capsules, basal ganglia and corpus callosum. This finding may represent microbleeds in the damaged brain. We suggest SWAN could be included as part of sequence in patients with clinically suspicious CFE.