What do you call a thrombus that has broken away and is moving through the bloodstream?

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Multiple Choice

What do you call a thrombus that has broken away and is moving through the bloodstream?

Explanation:
A traveling clot is called an embolus. A thrombus is a clot that forms and stays attached to a vessel wall. When part of that clot breaks loose and is carried by the bloodstream to lodge elsewhere, it becomes an embolus. This process is embolization, and the resulting blockage is an embolism. Emboli can end up in the lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism, or travel to other organs, causing ischemia. The other terms describe different things: an aneurysm is a ballooning of a weakened vessel wall, and plaque is a fatty deposit within artery walls. So the term for a thrombus that has broken away and is moving through the bloodstream is embolus.

A traveling clot is called an embolus. A thrombus is a clot that forms and stays attached to a vessel wall. When part of that clot breaks loose and is carried by the bloodstream to lodge elsewhere, it becomes an embolus. This process is embolization, and the resulting blockage is an embolism. Emboli can end up in the lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism, or travel to other organs, causing ischemia. The other terms describe different things: an aneurysm is a ballooning of a weakened vessel wall, and plaque is a fatty deposit within artery walls. So the term for a thrombus that has broken away and is moving through the bloodstream is embolus.

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