Cerebral Infarction from Arterial Air Emboli: Critical CT and MRI Diagnosis in Emergency Radiology
Cerebral Infarction from Arterial Air Emboli: Emergency CT and MRI Diagnosis Every Radiologist Should Recognize Introduction A previously stable 39-year-old man suddenly becomes unresponsive after hemodialysis. Within minutes, generalized tonic-clonic seizures develop. Emergency physicians suspect stroke, meningitis, or metabolic encephalopathy. A non-contrast brain CT is immediately performed. Tiny dark foci appear along the cortical sulci. This subtle imaging finding becomes the key to diagnosing one of the most dangerous yet frequently overlooked neurological emergencies in modern medicine: Cerebral infarction from arterial air emboli. Although rare, cerebral air embolism (CAE) represents a catastrophic neurovascular condition associated with high morbidity and mortality. Prompt recognition on emergency CT imaging can dramatically alter patient outcomes. For radiologists, neurologists, emergency physicians, and critical care specialists, recognizing the imaging patterns of arterial ...