DESCRIPTION We present a case of a 67-year-old patient who attended accident and emergency with left-sided weakness. Background included atrial fibrillation (on long-term warfarin). Examination revealed left hemiparesis, expressive dysphasia and a reduced Glasgow Coma Score, consistent with a right hemisphere cerebral vascular accident. Initial CT head demonstrated a hyperdense right middle cer...

Fat embolism occurs following fractures of a long bone or arthroplasty. We investigated whether paradoxical embolisation through a venous-to-arterial circulation shunt (v-a) could lead to cerebral embolisation during elective hip or knee arthroplasty. Transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD), following the intravenous injection of microbubble contrast, identified the presence of a shunt in 41 pati...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Cerebral embolism from extracranial sources is an important cause of ischemic stroke. The purpose of this limited study using long-term transcranial Doppler ultrasonographic monitoring was to estimate the frequency of clinically silent intracranial embolisms in patients with symptomatic extracranial carotid artery disease. SUMMARY OF REPORT By means of a 2-MHz pulsed-wa...

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the anatomic origin of micro-emboli influences their intracranial distribution. In twenty-two baboons, we examined the distribution of 99-Technetium labelled albumin aggregates (5 to 40 microns in size) after injection into the circulation at the left atrium (LA), carotid trifurcation (CA), and anterior and posterior common carotid artery (CC...

Cerebral arterial air embolism (CAAE), although infrequent, is a complication that can occur at any time during an invasive medical procedure. We experienced two cases of CAAE during cerebral angiography accidentally. The author reports the two cases of CAAE wherein air emboli dissolved spontaneously and immediately under normal atmospheric pressure, not under therapeutic hyperbaric environment...

Endovascular carotid intervention has undergone a dramatic and rapid evolution since its early inception in the 1990s at which time it comprised a rudimentary angioplasty technique. Quite apart from changes in the size and format of the guidewires used (0.014 inch, rapid-exchange compatible) and stents and balloons (dedicated, low-profile), perhaps one of the most interesting developments has b...

The experiments in this report were designed to evaluate the effect of superficial temporal-middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA) anastomosis on the course of middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion by emboli while avoiding a vessel clipping technique as well as the use of long-acting barbiturate anesthesia. Dogs were divided into 3 general groups: A) embolus placement 1 h following anastomosis; B) e...

Extension of primary lung tumors into the left atrium via pulmonary veins is a well-documented phenomenon. Peripheral arterial embolism and cerebral embolism originating from a primary lung neoplasm are rare events. We report a case of simultaneous acute bilateral lower limb ischemia, bilateral renal infarction, splenic infarction and cerebral infarction as a result of multiple emboli originati...

Eleven cardiac operations are reported in which there was electroencephalographic and/or clinical evidence of seizure activity during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). In four patients seizure activity appeared after acute episodes of cerebral ischaemia resulting from either hypotension or pump-generated emboli occurring at the beginning of CPB, or from air embolism occurring at the end of CPB when...