Overview

• Blood clot in an artery, which may prevent blood reaching organs
• May not cause symptoms until blood flow to part of the body is blocked off
• Mainly caused by atherosclerosis. Increased risk of atherosclerosis due to → increased age, smoking, unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, being overweight, alcohol consumption, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, south asian/afro-caribbean descent.
• May also occur due to conditions that make your blood more likely to clot → atrial fibrillation or antiphospholipid syndrome

Making Diagnosis

Clinical Features:

• Myocardial Infarction → chest pain, SOB, dizziness
• Stroke → unilateral facial paralysis, unilateral weakness, slurred speech
• TIA (’mini stroke) → blood flow to brain is temporarily blocked, causing short-lived stroke symptoms
• Critical Limb Ischaemia (complication of PAD) → blood supply to limb is blocked, causing it to become painful, pale and cold (6 P’s)

Management Plan

• Reduce Risk by lowering Atherosclerosis Risk
  • Stop smoking, improve diet, exercise, lose weight, cut down on alcohol
  • Medications → statins, anti-hypertensives, anticoagulants (warfarin) and antiplatelets (aspirin/clopidogrel)
• Treatment for Arterial Thrombosis
  • Thrombolysis → dissolve blood clot
  • Embolectomy → operation to remove clot
  • Angioplasty → operation to widen the affected artery
  • CABG → surgery to divert blood around the blocked artery