[A rare complication of parenteral fat nutrition in a child].

An observation is described in which pulmonary complications were found in a child receiving for 7 weeks a parenteral nutrition including a fat emulsion "lipofundin--20%". Total dose of fat administered to the child was 60.7 g/kg body weight. Fat embolism of pulmonary small arteries and arterioles with a giant-cell reaction in the lumen and in all parts of the wall of small and some medium branches of the lung artery was found at the autopsy. Fat particles were revealed histochemically in the vessel lumen, arterial wall and the cytoplasm of multinuclear giant cells and alveolar macrophages.