ACUTE ARTERIAL EMBOLISM

EMBOLIC disease is not an uncommon entity. It is, perhaps, a poorly understood emergency, as may be witnessed by its delayed recognition and by its varied and even harmful treatment, both by the general surgeon and by the general practitioner. The present study is comprised of a survey of 85 patients admitted to the University Hospitals over an 18-year period from 1934 to 1952, whose conditions were diagnosed as visceral or peripheral embolic disease. Patients with embolism primarily to the brain, heart, and lungs were excluded. The recent advances in cardiac and peripheral vascular surgery offer encouraging aspects to the treatment of this condition and necessitate a more complete evaluation of its basic clinicopathology.

INCIDENCE  Of the 85 patients admitted during an 18-year period, there was only a slightly higher incidence in women. Thirty-eight of the patients were men and 47 were women. The average age was 60 years; the