Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage in Patients Undergoing Neurointervention: A Case Report

INTRODUCTION: Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) is a very rare complication but acute and life-threatening event. Clopidogrel has generally administered for neurointerventional surgery, but there were no reports of DAH related to clopidogrel in patients undergoing neurointervention. CASE PRESENTATION: A 70-year-old male presented with DAH associated with clopidogrel after transfemoral cerebral angiography and coil embolization for cerebral aneurysm. The chest radiography showed bilateral symmetric peribronchial consolidation and bronchoscopy revealed diffuse hemorrhage on the bronchial wall at the bilateral lung. Clopidogrel was withdrawn and mechanical ventilation was applied for postoperative three days. CONCLUSIONS: Small dose of clopidogrel (75 mg) may lead to rare, life-threatening DAH, so physicians should be aware of the possibility of DAH after neurointervention in patients who have respiratory distress, worsening alveolar infiltrates accompanied by hemoptysis.