Cholesterol crystal embolism Review article
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Abstract
The spectrum of cholesterol crystal embolism spans the fortuitous discovery of a few crystals at autopsy to the life-threatening occurrence of multiorgan involvement including acute renal failure. Although atheroembolism ranks among the dreaded complications of radiology and of vascular surgery, it is still underdiagnosed and its treatment is not clearly codified. Therapeutic measures of paramount importance are restriction of further intravascular interventions, stop of anticoagulation, and treatment of renal insufficiency with dialysis. Patients with massive cholesterol crystal embolism do not die from renal failure but from vital organ injury, such as mesenteric and pancreatic ischemia what confirms the essential role of preventing cholesterol crystal embolism in patients at risk like smokers with lipid disorders and widespread atherosclerosis.
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