Fatal paradoxical muscle embolization in traumatic carotid-cavernous fistula repair. Case report.

A unique case of fatal paradoxical muscle embolism in a patient with a traumatic carotid-cavernous fistula is described. The muscle plug intended to occlude a left-sided fistula passed through the large fistula, bypassed the lungs by way of a patent foramen ovale, and embolized through the right carotid artery to lodge the internal carotid and middle cerebral arteries producing fatal brain infarction.