cerebral embolism

embolism /em·bo·lism/ (em´bŏ-lizm) the sudden blocking of an artery by a clot or foreign material which has been brought to its site of lodgment by the blood current.

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air embolism  that due to air bubbles entering the veins from trauma, surgical procedures, or severe decompression sickness.

cerebral embolism  embolism of a cerebral artery.

coronary embolism  embolism of a coronary artery.

fat embolism  obstruction by a fat embolus, occurring especially after fractures of large bones.

miliary embolism  embolism affecting many small blood vessels.

paradoxical embolism  blockage of a systemic artery by a thrombus originating in a systemic vein that has passed through a defect in the interatrial or interventricular septum.

pulmonary embolism  obstruction of the pulmonary artery or one of its branches by an embolus.

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cerebral embolism n. An obstruction in a cerebral artery by an embolus, usually resulting in transient or permanent impairment of cognitive, motor, or sensory function.

cerebral embolism An embolus arising from a mural thrombus of the left ventricle of the heart, traveling to an artery in the brain.

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Cerebral embolism

A blockage of blood flow through a vessel in the brain by a blood clot that formed elsewhere in the body and traveled to the brain.

Mentioned in: Stroke

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cerebral embolism

Etymology: L, cerebrum + embolos, plug

a condition in which an embolus blocks blood flow through the vessels of the cerebrum, resulting in tissue ischemia distal to the occlusion. See also cerebrovascular insult.

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embolism

the sudden blocking of an artery by a clot of foreign material (embolus) that has been brought to its site of lodgment by the blood current. The obstructing material is most often a blood clot, but may be a fat globule, air bubble, piece of tissue, e.g. degenerated intervertebral disk, or clump of bacteria. It may therefore be the site of origin of a shower of microabscesses or a neoplastic metastasis. See also saddle thrombus, iliac artery thrombosis.

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air embolism

air injected accidentally into veins which may cause temporary paralysis or dyspnea, or may be fatal if the embolism occurs in the heart or brain. It has been used as a method of performing euthanasia but is too uncertain and inhumane to be recommended.

cerebral embolism

embolism of a cerebral artery; one of the causes of cerebral vascular accident.

renal embolism

embolism in the kidney causes no observable clinical effect unless it involves a very large area, when toxemia may result and be followed by uremia.