Multiple Peripheral Emboli in Atherosclerosis of the Aorta

Abstract

Multiple peripheral vascular occlusions are usually considered due to multiple emboli originating from thrombi in the chambers of the heart or from the heart valves. Less commonly large thrombi form on the walls of the aorta which may break off to occlude large peripheral vessels and produce massive infarcts. A rare condition which may produce multiple small emboli with a variegated clinical picture is embolism of atheromatous material subsequent to erosion of atheromas of the aorta. Report of Case The patient, whose final admission to the Mayo Clinic occurred on March 1, 1956, was a white man aged 69 years. His family history was noncontributory. In 1905 he was found to have syphilis. Apparently he had had adequate treatment for this, and there was no subsequent clinical problem related to this diagnosis. In 1939, seventeen years before his final admission to the Clinic, he first experienced typical angina. Eleven years