Arterial EmbolismArteriosclerotic heart disease is the basis of most arterial embolisms. Of the quarter of patients who present without atrial fibrillation, half will have had previous myocardial infarction to account for the embolus. Extracardiac sources of peripheral emboli are becoming better recognized, particularly aneurysms of the aorta or subclavian vessels, the latter commonly associated with cervical rib. In a recent review of 426 arterial emboli in 260 patients, approximately one tenth involved visceral organs, about one fifth were lodged in cerebral vessels, and more than two thirds were to major limb arteries. Despite the advanced age of these patients, . . .