Nō to shinkei = Brain and nerve
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The occurrence of air embolism in supine position operation is extremely rare. We reported a case of air embolism during the operation of a ruptured middle cerebral artery aneurysm in supine position. A 58-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital in semicomatous state. ⋯ A postoperative cerebral angiogram showed occlusion of a temporal branch of the right middle cerebral artery, P1 portion of the left posterior cerebral artery, and the right superior cerebellar artery. We speculated that high endotracheal pressure brought out pulmonary alveolar rupture, and in spite of supine position operation massive air, which flowed into systemic circulation from ruptured alveoli, caused cerebral infarction and cardiac arrest. We consider that unrecognized air embolism might be the one of the factors influencing the prognosis of severe subarachnoid hemorrhage, especially in the cases associated with neurogenic pulmonary edema.