CTICasesSilicone Pulmonary Embolism
Imaging findings
Chest CT in a female patient presenting with acute dyspnea days after cosmetic silicone injections in her thighs and buttocks shows bilateral ground-glass opacities and peripheral, branching nodular densities in both lungs, representing silicone embolization and pneumonitis. Coronal images of the thighs show severe, bilateral soft-tissue stranding and nodularity.
Key takeaways
Silicone pulmonary embolism (and silicone pneumonitis) is a life-threatening complication of illegal or cosmetic liquid silicone injections into the buttocks or thighs. The silicone enters the venous circulation, embolizing to the pulmonary capillaries, where it triggers severe alveolar hemorrhage and pneumonitis. Patients present with acute ARDS, and imaging showing thigh injections and peripheral ground-glass is diagnostic.
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