Neurology
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Treatment of brain embolism should depend on the nature of the embolic material, if discoverable or predictable, not on whether the source was cardiac or intra-arterial. The middle cerebral artery territory is the most common recipient site for emboli, but many emboli do go to the carotid arteries and the posterior circulation. ⋯ The carotid arteries are probably the most common sources of intra-arterial emboli to the brain, but emboli also frequently arise from the aorta and the vertebral arteries. Potential embolic materials probably frequently enter the circulation but rarely cause strokes.