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<div class="section1">A common cause of embolus is when an artery whose lining has become thickened or damaged, usually with age, allows cholesterol to build up more easily than normal on the artery wall. If some of the cholesterol breaks off, it forms an embolus. Emboli also commonly form from blood clots in a heart that has been damaged from heart attack or when the heart contracts abnormally from atrial fibrillation.
Other known causes are fat cells that enter the blood after a major bone fracture, infected blood cells, cancer cells that enter the blood stream, and small gas bubbles.
Symptoms of an embolus can begin suddenly or build slowly over time, depending on the amount of blocked blood flow.
If the embolus is in an arm or leg, there will be muscle pain, numbness or tingling, pale skin color, lower temperature in the limb, and weakness or loss of muscle function. If it occurs in an internal organ, there is usually pain and/or loss of the organ's function.
Source: The Gale Group. Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, 3rd ed.";
