Embolectomy - Background Knowledge

Background Knowledge

Emboli are abnormal masses of material (which can be solid, liquid or gas) that are carried in the blood stream from one part of the circulation to another causing a blockage (occlusion) of a blood vessel that leads to lack of oxygen supply (ischemia) and finally infarction of tissue downstream of the embolus.

The most common type of emboli are a blood clot generated by thrombosis which has then broken off and is then transported in the blood stream (see embolism).

There are two areas where emboli can form and therefore impact:

• Arterial emboli form in the left side of the heart or the main arteries, they impact in body tissues but not the lungs, commonly in the brain and the small vessels in the upper and lower limbs
• Venous emboli arise in veins (for example emboli which form from deep venous thrombosis or DVT) and these impact in the lung (see pulmonary embolism).