Abstract
An embolus is an intra-vascular mass that generally includes a thrombus and atheromatous or cellular matter that has entered the circulation and creates symptoms by lodging at the end of the arteries and disturbing the blood flow to the organs. Emboli from the venous system might enter the right side of the heart and cause pulmonary emboli, while those created on the left side of the heart and great arteries may create infarcts in the brain, kidneys, intestine, and skin. Though, small strokes and transient ischemic attacks are frequently caused by atheromatous debris from the aorta or major cerebral arteries. A paradoxical embolus is a systemic infarct in which the source of the embolus is supposed to be from the venous system; it bypasses the pulmonary circulation by means of an intra-cardiac shunt and goes across into the arterial circulation.
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Abbreviations
- ASA:
-
Atrial septal aneurysm
- ASE:
-
American society of echocardiography
- Avs:
-
Aortic valves
- CV:
-
Cardiovascular
- DVT:
-
Deep venous thrombosis
- IAS:
-
Inter-atrial septum
- LA:
-
Left atrial
- LAA :
-
Left atrial appendage
- MR:
-
Magnetic resonance
- MV:
-
Mitral valve
- PFO:
-
Patent foramen ovale
- RA:
-
Right atrium
- RV:
-
Right ventricle
- TEE:
-
Transesophageal echocardiography
- TTE:
-
Transthoracic echocardiography
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Trans-esophageal echocardiography, long axis view showing complex atherosclerotic plaque in descending thoracic aorta (AVI 12102 kb)
Trans-esophageal echocardiography showing large fresh left atrial appendage clot associated with spontaneous contrast in LA (MP4 3093 kb)
Off axis 4 chamber view showing dyskinetic apico-septal segment with apical thrombus (AVI 11625 kb)
Off axis 4 chamber view showing dyskinetic apico-septal segment with apical thrombus (AVI 12860 kb)
Vegetation on mitral bio-prostheses visualized in TEE (AVI 7408 kb)
Trans-esophageal echocardiography, mid esophageal 130′ view showing lambl’s excrescence of aortic valve that can be a source of emboli (AVI 9161 kb)
Transesophageal echocardiography, mid esophageal 0′ view showing thrombus in transit via patent foramen ovale (AVI 9134 kb)
Transesophageal echocardiography, mid esophageal 97′ view showing large patent foramen ovale with some bubble passage in contrast study (AVI 13268 kb)
Transesophageal echocardiography, mid esophageal 120′ modified bicaval view showing inter-atrial septum aneurysm (AVI 4884 kb)
Transesophageal echocardiography, mid esophageal 80′ bicaval view showing inter-atrial septum aneurysm with significant smoke pattern (AVI 30233 kb)
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Alizadehasl, A., Sadeghpour, A. (2018). Evaluation of Cardiac Sources of Emboli by Echocardiography. In: Sadeghpour, A., Alizadehasl, A. (eds) Case-Based Textbook of Echocardiography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67691-3_37
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67691-3_37
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