Stroke



	A stroke may occur if an embolism travels from another part of the body and lodges within an artery in the brain. When an internal arterial wall becomes damaged, various types of emboli can form, such as one derived from platlets, thrombotic, cholesterol, or mixed. In this example, an embolism is formed in the internal carotid artery, breaks loose, travels towards the brain and lodges in a cerebral artery. The blocked artery deprives the brain of oxygen, damaging the surrounding brain tissue. The result is a stroke.

Review Date: 11/29/2012
Reviewed By: Luc Dupont Jasmin, MD, PhD, FRCS (C), FACS, Department Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. Department of Surgery Ashland Community Hospital, Ashland, OR. Department of Anatomy at UCSF, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed HealthCare Network.

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