Embolism

In medicine, an embolism (plural embolisms; from the Greek ἐμβολισμός "insertion") occurs when an object (the embolus, plural emboli; from the Greek ἔμβολος "clot, lit. ram") migrates from one part of the body (through circulation) and causes a blockage (occlusion) of a blood vessel in another part of the body. The term was coined in 1848 by Rudolph Carl Virchow. This is in contrast with a thrombus, or clot, which forms at the blockage point within a blood vessel and is not carried from somewhere else. However, if a thrombus breaks loose from its location and travels to another location, it is then said to be an embolus and having caused an embolism.