[Unusual findings on chest x-ray].

We describe a 59-year-old woman, who came to the Emergency Room with fever, dyspnoea and lung abnormalities on chest x-ray. The X-ray abnormalities were not related to the clinical symptoms and could be explained by the patient's medical history, which included rib fractures and spinal compression fractures. The confined spherical structures visible on chest X-ray were indicative of previous rib fractures. The linear hyperdense branching structures represent diffuse pulmonary cement embolisms after percutaneous vertebroplasty.