Percutaneous balloon kyphoplasty is a relatively simple, convenient, and minimally invasive procedure in which polymethylmethacrylate bone cement is used to manage back pain and spinal instability associated with osteoporotic compression fractures and other osteolytic spinal lesions. However, cement leakage into the venous system is a serious complication following percutaneous balloon kyphoplasty. A 74-year-old woman presented with cardiac perforation and pulmonary embolism caused by cement leakage into her venous system. She subsequently underwent surgery to effectively remove a needle-shaped cement piece from the right ventricular wall, without cardiopulmonary bypass and cardiac arrest.
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