Paradoxical Embolism: This is a type of stroke also referred to as CVA or cerebrovascular accident or a type of “arterial thrombosis” due to an embolism or blood clot of DVT or deep venous source that is possible because of a lateral adjacent hole in the heart, much like a “patent foramen ovale”.

This hole is normally an “atrial septal defect” but may as well be known as a “ventricular septal defect”.

Embolisms that are paradoxical occur in 2% of emboli from arterial sources.

The pathophysiology of a thrombus goes from a vein to an artery. Normally when clots in the veins break off or embolize, they will then first travel to the heart’s right side and, usually, to the lungs where they can get stuck, producing a pulmonary embolism. But instead, with these types of embolisms once there is a hole in the wall between the 2 upper chambers of the heart – an “atrial septal defect” – the clot can go from right to the left part of the heart passing into the arteries as an embolism that is paradoxical. Once in circulation arterially, a clot may go to the brain, where blocking a vessel there causes a stroke which is a CVA. It is also referred to as crossed embolism.