How small can a fatal embulism be?

Answer 1

An embolism in even a very tiny, capillary sized, blood vessel can kill a person, if it is in a key location.

An embolism is caused by a blockage of an artery or vein by a small part of the body. Most commonly this is plague that builds up in the blood vessel. A thrombus happens when a blood clot forms that blocks a key blood vessel. However, if a clot forms at one point and then travels to another part of the body it can form an embolism there. Fat cells can also be responsible for an embolism, but only something like plague builds up on the walls of the blood vessels and slowly decreases the size of the blood vessel.

The key areas where an embolism can be fatal are in the lungs, the heart or the brain where it can cause an ischemic stroke. Most often an artery is affected, but it can happen in a vein. Since someone dies of a stroke every 3 minutes this can be a big problem.

The brain and some of the nervous tissue around the heart can be very sensitive to pressure. In the case of an embolism the blood flow to surrounding tissue is blocked. When this happens the tissue could be starved of oxygen and nutrients killing it. Or the building pressure behind the clot can put too much pressure on the area and cause damage.

BRAIN: Brain damage often causes bleeding and the pressure put on the brain by this can lead to death. The skull protects the brain but it also keeps the pressure inside. This is why brain swelling is so dangerous. In a few rare cases surgeons can remove a piece of the skull to relieve this pressure, but often the problem is too deep inside the brain for this to work. It doesn’t have to be a major artery or vein that gets clogged, all it requires is that the blood vessel be in a sensitive area, or so deep inside the brain that the pressure can’t be relieved.

HEART: In the case of the heart an embolism can block the blood vessels that serve the nerves on the heart or the muscles. If a nerve is killed then the heart could stop receiving its timing pulse. The heart can go erratic or even go into arrest (a heart attack), resulting in death. If heart muscle dies then it can’t be replaced by the body. In the case of someone who is overweight their heart has had to swell to deal with the extra blood flow required and the extra blood pressure needed to circulate the blood through out the body. Such hearts are overstrained and weak. If a little too much heart muscle is lost or just damaged then it can be enough to send it on a downward spiral leading to death.

LUNG: An embolism in the lung can be very painful and dangerous, but it is fatal in only 26% of cases. A pulmonary embolism can be fatal when it works against an existing heart or lung problem.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embolism
"In medicine, an embolism occurs when an object (the embolus, plural emboli) migrates from one part of the body (through circulation) and cause(s) a blockage (occlusion) of a blood vessel in another part of the body.

This can be contrasted with a "thrombus" which is the formation of a clot within a blood vessel, rather than being carried from elsewhere.

An embolus landing in the brain from either the heart or a carotid artery will likely cause an ischemic stroke."

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke
"A stroke, also known as cerebrovascular accident (CVA),[1] is an acute neurologic injury in which the blood supply to a part of the brain is interrupted. That is, stroke involves sudden loss of neuronal function due to disturbance in cerebral perfusion. This disturbance in perfusion is commonly arterial, but can be venous.

The part of the brain with disturbed perfusion no longer receives adequate oxygen. This initiates the ischemic cascade which causes brain cells to die or be seriously damaged, impairing local brain function. Stroke is a medical emergency and can cause permanent neurologic damage or even death if not promptly diagnosed and treated. It is the third leading cause of death and adult disability in the United States and industrialized European nations. On average, a stroke occurs every 45 seconds and someone dies every 3 minutes. Of every 5 deaths from stroke, 2 occur in men and 3 in women."

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulmonary_embolism
“Mortality from untreated PE is said to be 26%. This figure comes from a trial published in 1960 by Barrit and Jordan.

Prognosis depends on the amount of lung that is affected and on the co-existence of other debilitating conditions; chronic embolisation to the lung can lead to pulmonary hypertension. There is controversy over whether or not small subsegmental PEs need to be treated at all and there exists some current medical evidence that patients with subsegmental PEs may in fact do quite well without treatment.”

NOTE: PE = Pulmonary Embolism an embolism in the lung.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulmonary_hypertension
“In medicine, pulmonary hypertension (PH) is an increase in blood pressure in the pulmonary artery or lung vasculature, leading to shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting, and other symptoms, all of which are exacerbated by exertion. Depending on the cause, pulmonary hypertension can be a severe disease with a markedly decreased exercise tolerance and right-sided heart failure. It was first identified by Dr Ernst von Romberg in 1891.[1] It can be one of five different types, arterial, venous, hypoxic, thromboembolic, or miscellaneous. Another way to classify the illness is whether its cause is largely unknown (primary or idiopathic pulmonary hypertension), or if it is secondary to, or the result of another condition (secondary pulmonary hypertension).”

Answer 2

Embulism or Embolism? If you are referring to the medical term, Embolism; From what I know it is dangerous regardless the size. An embolus at the size of a small grain of sand usually dose not affect the blood flow in the vein and arteries unless they pile up blocking the flow or until when it reaches the smallest blood circulation, the capillaries.

Answer 3

embolisms can be air, fat, or gas. Just think of it a something that stops the normal flow of blood.