Embolism clinical presentation

Atrial myxoma is a rare atrial tumor that causes multiple emboli of either thrombus or myxomatous tissue. When myxomatous material is embolized from the left atrium into the brain arteries, they may cause the formation of multiple distal cerebral aneurysms with risk of hemorrhage [46]. Papillary fibroelastomas are rare benign cardiac tumors usually involving a heart valve. They are small vascular growths with marked papillary projections. They usually grow on the aortic or mitral valves. The tumor consists of fibrous tissue surrounded by an elastic membrane, which in turn is covered by endothelium. One of the most conunon clinical presentations is of transient ischemic attack or stroke [47,48]. 

Cromwell LD, Kerber CW (1979) Modification of cyanoacrylate for therapeutic embolization preliminary experience. AJR Am J Roentgenol 132 799-801 Davies MA, Ter Brugge K, Willinsky R et al (1996) The validity of classification for the clinical presentation of intracranial dural arteriovenous fistulas. J Neurosurg 85 830-837... 

Peripheral arterial occlusion can be the initial manifestation of cardiac or systemic disease. At times, patients with chronic stable claudication may experience abrupt shortening of the distance at which claudication occurs, and this may be the only symptomatic evidence of an acute arterial occlusion either by embolization of by thrombus formation on a pre-existing arterial stenosis. The situation is not chronic and stable any more, but acute and unstable. As ischemia becomes more severe, the patient with chronic peripheral arterial disease develops ischemic pain at rest. The pathophysiologic mechanisms and the clinical presentation parallel the evolution of chronic stable angina pectoris to unstable angina and acute coronary syndromes. 

At present there are no recognized effective treatment strategies for spinal cord stroke (Caplan 2003 Mull 2005). Nevertheless, if the cord ischemia is judged to be embolic, effective anticoagulation or antiplatelet drugs should be considered in clinical practice. 

In cases of severe fatty liver, there is indeed a risk of fat embolism occurring in the lungs, brain and kidneys. In view of the considerable fat masses stored in the hepatic parenchyma due to this condition, R. Virchow suspected the manifestation of fat embolism as early as 1886. (s. tab. 31.9) Blunt traumatism of the (enlarged) liver with subsequent mobilization of fat is thought to be the cause of this condition. It is not clear at present whether this so-called inundation theory offers sufficient explanation or whether it needs to be amended or even replaced by the so-called segregation theory (high lipaemia, deemulsification of blood fats, etc.). While hepatic fat embolism may be rare, it is nevertheless clinically relevant. 

A third variety, so-called delayed-onset heparin-induced thrombocytopenia has also been described in several reports. In 12 patients, recruited from secondary and tertiary care hospitals, thrombocytopenia and associated thrombosis occurred at a mean of 9.2 (range 5-19) days after the withdrawal of heparin nine received additional heparin, with further falls in platelet counts (32). In a retrospective case series, 14 patients, seen over a 3-year period, developed thromboembolic complications a median of 14 days after treatment with heparin (33). The emboli were venous (n — 10), or arterial (n — 2), or both (n — 2) of the 12 patients with venous embolism, 7 had pulmonary embolism. Platelet counts were mildly reduced in all but two patients at the time of the second presentation. On readmission, 11 patients received therapeutic heparin, which worsened their clinical condition and further reduced the platelet count. 

A major clinical role of CTA in acute ischemic stroke management remains the exclusion of unnecessary lA thrombolytic therapy in patients presenting with acute embolic stroke, but who do not have large... 

Elective embolization can be performed for many indications as will be presented in other chapters in this book. Different indications have different appropriateness criteria and require different workup and preparations (Table 4.2). For example, preparation for a uterine fibroids embolization procedure varies greatly from preparation for a varicocele embolization. Work-up and preparation includes a focused history with physical examination, evaluation by an appropriate allied clinical specialist (for example, a gynecologist in the case of uterine... 

The major aims of interventional procedures for portal hypertension are prophylactic and emergent treatment of variceal bleeding, control of hepatic encephalopathy, and treatment of refractory ascites. Hypersplenism associated with hematological disorder is an additional clinical problem in patients with portal hypertension. At present, the main primary embolotherapies available for portal hypertension are balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) and partial splenic embolization (PSE). In Japan, BRTO has recently been applied for gastric varices instead of either endoscopic treatment or transhepatic intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedure, and numerous studies have reported that this method has an excellent success rate. Its efficacy for control of hepatic encephalopathy has also been demonstrated. 

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