Microbleeds show a characteristic distribution in cerebral fat embolism

Insights into Imaging

Table 3 Radiological findings

Variable	(n)	(Σ)*	Rate (%)	References
Radiological findings
Microbleeds	52	53^a	98.11	[17, 18, 20, 21, 24,25,26,27, 39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71]
Walnut kernel microbleed pattern**	35	39^b	89.74	[17, 18, 23,24,25,26, 39, 41, 45,46,47, 49, 50, 52,53,54, 56, 58, 61,62,63, 66, 70,71,72,73]
Diffusion abnormality	124	127^c	97.64	[1, 8, 9, 11, 17, 18, 22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30, 39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55, 57,58,59, 61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71, 73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104]
Definitive starfield pattern**	87	127^c	68.5	[1, 9, 11, 17, 18, 23, 24, 26,27,28, 40,41,42, 44, 46, 48, 50,51,52, 54, 58, 59, 61,62,63,64,65, 67,68,69, 74,75,76,77,78, 80,81,82,83,84,85, 88, 90, 91, 93,94,95,96, 98, 99]
Confluent cytotoxic edema in white matter	41	82^d	50	[8, 17, 18, 24,25,26, 28, 29, 42, 44, 45, 47, 50,51,52, 54, 55, 65, 70, 76, 78, 84,85,86,87, 89, 90, 92,93,94, 97, 98, 100, 103,104,105]
Cytotoxic edema in the corpus callosum	34	44^e	77.27	[9, 17, 18, 23,24,25,26, 28, 40, 44, 45, 61, 62, 65, 66, 70, 72, 81, 83,84,85, 88, 89, 93, 94, 96,97,98, 101]
Vasogenic edema lesions	17	58^f	29.31	[8, 11, 17, 23, 26, 29, 30, 41, 42, 47, 50, 52, 55, 56, 78, 89, 92]
Atrophy	9	9^g	100	[1, 17, 24,25,26,27,28,29]

*Total number of cases eligible for analysis
**For definition see methods
^aCases with presented susceptibility- or T2* images, or with no presented images but with clear description regarding microbleed presence
^bCases with susceptibility- or T2* images in which the subcortical white matter, internal capsule, and the corpus callosum were evaluable, and cases with no presented images but description of findings regarding microbleeds in the specified locations
^cCases with presented DWI, or DWI and ADC. Cases with no such presented imaging but with clear description of any diffusion abnormality, or the absence of any diffusion abnormality were also included
^dCases with presented DWI and ADC images. Cases without presented images but with description of findings regarding the presence or absence of confluent cytotoxic edema were also included
^eCases with DWI and ADC images where the corpus callosum is visible. Cases without presented images but with clear description regarding the presence or absence of corpus callosum diffusion restriction were also included
^fCases with presented DWI and ADC images. Cases without presented images but with clear description regarding the presence or absence of lesions of facilitated diffusion were also included.
^gCases with presented follow-up MR or CT images. Cases without presented images but with clear description regarding the presence or absence of atrophy in the late stage