Pulmonary embolism presenting as fever in spinal cord injury patients: report of two cases and review of the literature.

Pulmonary embolism is a common, sometimes fatal complication of spinal cord injury. We describe two quadriplegic patients who developed unexplained fever as the sole presenting sign of multiple pulmonary emboli during the subacute phase following injury. These cases and a review of the literature suggest that ventilation-perfusion scanning should be considered in the diagnostic evaluation of fever in patients with recent spinal cord injury even in the absence of other clinical signs of thromboembolic disease.