embolism (em'bo-lizm)

The obstruction of an artery or capillary by any undi olved material transported to it by the blood current. This material may consist of a detached portion of a thrombus, of fat cells, air bubbles, tumor cells, or cells from various viscera, such as the liver, the bone-marrow, or the placenta. air e. The obstruction to the circulation, often resulting in sudden death, caused by the entrance of bubbles of air into a blood ve el. anthracolic e. Blackish deposits of coal particles distributed throughout the viscera, arterial e. E. of an artery, bacillary e. The obstruction of a ve el by a ma of bacilli. bland e. An embolism not containing bacteria, capillary e. E. of the capillaries only, or of the capillaries and the smallest arteries, cardiac e. i. E. due to an embolus, generally a fibrinous concretion, carried from the heart into an artery. 2. Cardiac thrombosis, central retinal e. E. of the central artery of the retina or one of its branches, cerebral e. E. of a cerebral artery, often giving rise to apoplectoid symptoms and subsequently to those of cerebral degeneration. cro ed e. E. in which the embolus pa ed from the right to the left side of the heart through a defective septum. fat e., fatty e. A condition sometimes observed as a sequence of fractures, consisting e entially in the pa age into the veins of liquefied fat, which is carried into the lungs, brain, etc., blocking up the capillaries of those organs, infective e. E. by infective material capable of giving rise to septic or specific disease in its new situation, metastatic e. See infective e. and pyemic e. multiple e. E. by a number of emboli situated in different ve els. oil e. See fat e. paradoxical e. See cro ed e. pul embryon i a (em-bre-o'ne-ah). A de monary e., pulmonic e. E. of the pulmonary artery or one of its branches. When the embolus is large enough to obstruct a branch of great size, it gives rise to cyanosis, distre ing dyspnea, and often sudden death; smaller emboli cause limited gangrene, absce es, infarctions, etc. pyemic e. E. by purulent material. recurrent e. • E. in which emboli float backward in the venous stream, retinal e. See central retinal e. retrograde e. See recurrent e. simple e. See bland e. venous e. E. of a vein. Emboli have been supposed to occur in the hepatic veins as the result of regurgitation from the infer i oven a r_ cava. [Gr., emballein, to throw in.]