A couple posts ago we saw a REAL blood clot and discussed its potential development in leg veins, the danger of traveling to the lungs, and some ways to prevent! This animation illustrates the concept and relating anatomy well. Now let's define 📝📝 . The formation of a blood clot in the veins (usually leg veins) is known as deep vein thrombosis. Breaking that down... Deep (as opposed to superficial veins, which have a lower likelihood of traveling to lungs), vein (as opposed to artery - blocking blood flow TO an organ, causing a heart attack or stroke), thrombosis (formation of "thrombus", just a fancy word for clot)... This can cause pain and swelling in the affected limb - the clot blocks the venous return of blood back to the heart, thus engorging the limb 😁 . When this clot travels through the venous system into the lungs, it's called a pulmonary embolism (pulmonary = lung, embolism = "traveling clot"). Since the clot obstructs blood flow to a portion of the lung, a pulmonary embolism causes shortness of breath and strain on the heart 💔 . While we've talked about ways to prevent, if a clot does develop, it IS emergent and merits immediate medical attention 🏥 Medicine can have its own language, but it's by no means a secret! ☀️📖
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