Causes
In thrombotic cerebral infarction a thrombus usually forms around atherosclerotic plaques. An embolic stroke refers to the blockage of an artery by an embolus, a traveling particle or debris in the arterial bloodstream originating elsewhere. An embolus is most frequently a thrombus, but it can also be a number of other substances including fat (e.g. from bone marrow in a broken bone), air, cancer cells or clumps of bacteria (usually from infectious endocarditis). The embolus may be of cardiac origin or from atherosclerotic plaque of another (or the same) large artery.
Read more about this topic: Cerebral Infarction