The chemical composition of circulating fat emboli released during total hip prosthesis.

Lipids of fat emboli released in the circulating blood of seven patients undergoing hip prostheses were compared with those of plasma, adipose tissue and bone marrow taken simultaneously. Similar in composition to bone marrow, fat emboli, as compared with plasma lipids, contain negligible amounts of free esterified cholesterol, a relative decrease of oleic acid and an increase of palmitic acid in triglycerides and a lower percentage of linoleic acid in phospholipids. The results of this study validate the theory that fat emboli originate from bone marrow in fractures of the long bone.