# Cerebral Fat Migration After Spine Surgery

**Authors:** Dries Vanhoegaerden, Michiel Herteleer, Philippe Demaerel

PMC · DOI: 10.5334/jbsr.3993 · Journal of the Belgian Society of Radiology · 2025-07-04

## TL;DR

A 73-year-old patient had fat droplets in the brain after spine surgery due to a tear in the spinal sac.

## Contribution

Reports a rare case of cerebral fat migration following spinal surgery.

## Key findings

- Postoperative brain CT showed fat droplets in the subarachnoid space and lateral ventricle.
- Fat migration occurred through a tear in the sacral thecal sac.

## Abstract

A 73-year-old patient with a complex sacral fracture underwent stabilising orthopaedic surgery. Postoperative brain CT showed fat droplets in the subarachnoid space and lateral ventricle. These fat droplets migrated into the cerebrospinal fluid by a tear in the sacral thecal sac.

Teaching point: Intracranial subarachnoid fat droplets may be observed after spinal surgery.

## Full-text entities

- **Diseases:** sacral fracture (MESH:C537221), Cerebral Fat Migration (MESH:D014085)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Full text

_Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12227090/full.md

## Figures

2 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12227090/full.md

## References

8 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12227090/full.md

---
Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12227090