Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome (PRES) following blood transfusion in a polytrauma victim, an atypical occurrence
Erum Shariff
, Nehad Mahmoud Soltan
Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Keywords: Anemia, blood transfusion, posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome
Abstract
Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a neuroradiological syndrome, clinically present by impaired consciousness, headache, visual disturbances, and seizures, and radiologically brain edema. Cases of PRES induced by blood transfusion are rarely documented. We report this case to increase the awareness of treating physicians for the possible complications of rapid blood transfusion. A 29 year old man presented with polytrauma and was in hemorrhagic shock. He was transfused with multiple transfusions. Later, he was found to have quadriplegia with minimal movement of fingers in the left hand. His computed tomography showed cerebral edema in multiple cerebral regions. We propose that the etiology in this case is that rapid blood transfusion induced acute rise in hemoglobin which led to PRES. The influences of blood transfusion on blood flow, blood viscosity, and endothelial dysfunction lead to blood–brain barrier dysfunction, which can result in PRES.
How to cite this article: Shariff E, Soltan NM. Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome (PRES) following blood transfusion in a polytrauma victim, an atypical occurrence. Turk J Emerg Med 2024;24:180-4.
Written informed consent was obtained from the patient to participate in this study.
Declaration of patient consent
The authors certify that they have obtained all appropriate patient consent forms. In the form, the patient has given his consent for his images and other clinical information to be reported in the journal. The patient understands that his name and initials will not be published and due efforts will be made to conceal his identity, but anonymity cannot be guaranteed.
ES contributed to provide the main idea of reporting the case, and revising the manuscript. NS wrote the initial manuscript.
None Declared.
None.
This study made use of the computational resources and technical services of the Scientific and High‑Performance Computing Center at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.