Platypnea-orthodeoxia is an uncommon syndrome that is characterized by dyspnea relieved by recumbency and deoxygenation following a change from a recumbent to an upright posture. We herein describe a case of platypnea-orthodeoxia in a 75-year-old man after a surgical restoration of a bitrochanteric fracture of his right femur. However, in this extremely rare case, none of the current known anatomical or functional conditions which can cause platypnea-orthodeoxia had been diagnosed. We strongly believe that this syndrome could be also the result of fat embolism.
Keywords: Dyspnea; Fat embolism; Hypoxemia; Platypnea-orthodeoxia.