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Embolism
Disease of arteries, arterioles and capillaries / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel.[1] The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule (fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas (gas embolism), amniotic fluid (amniotic fluid embolism), or foreign material.
Embolism | |
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Micrograph of embolic material in the artery of a kidney. The kidney was surgically removed because of cancer. H&E stain. | |
Specialty | Vascular surgery |
An embolism can cause partial or total blockage of blood flow in the affected vessel.[2] Such a blockage (vascular occlusion) may affect a part of the body distant from the origin of the embolus. An embolism in which the embolus is a piece of thrombus is called a thromboembolism.
An embolism is usually a pathological event, caused by illness or injury. Sometimes it is created intentionally for a therapeutic reason, such as to stop bleeding or to kill a cancerous tumor by stopping its blood supply. Such therapy is called embolization.