Medical Health Encyclopedia

Arterial embolism

Another condition that poses a high risk for embolization (especially to the brain) is mitral stenosis. Endocarditis may also cause arterial emboli (paradoxical embolization), if a clot travels through a hole in the heart called the foramen ovale.

If an embolism involves the arteries supplying blood flow to the lungs, it is called pulmonary embolism, rather than arterial embolism, and it is a different condition (that is, clots originated in the veins, not the arteries). Endocarditis can also cause pulmonary embolism.

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