[Embolism caused by a bullet. Report of a case and review of the literature].

We describe the case of a 23 years old male, who suffered a 45 bullet wound in the arm and upper right hemithorax. He walked after his injury and 10 minutes later presented dizziness, cough and tachycardia. On admission a minor haemothorax was seen on a chest X ray, but the bullet was not seen. Even without symptoms, an X ray of abdomen showed the missile lying above the left sacroiliac joint. A chest tube was placed, the patient had an excellent recovery and was discharged a week later. After several months he presented hemoptysis and a moderate pain on his right chest and was treated as an acute bronchitis. Six months after his initial injury he developed a florid picture of acute pulmonary embolism (chest pain, dyspnea, hemoptysis, tachycardia, severe cough). A new chest X ray was done and the bullet was shown lying in the right chest. A pulmonary arteriography located it in a lower basal branch. Through a posterolateral thoracotomy the slug was obtained. The recovery was uneventful and he has remained well since. We discuss the possible mechanisms to explain the entrance of the bullet into the vascular system and conclude that in cases of gunshot wounds: a) An exit wound must be always searched for; if not found exploratory X ray are mandatory, b) If the bullet is not found, specially after thoracic injuries, bullet embolism should be contemplated, c) If there are signs of regional ischemia arteriography is mandatory.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)