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There are three main causes of pulmonary embolism:
Damage to the endothelium, the lining of the blood vessels.
Venous stasis, or stagnation of blood flow in the veins.
Increased tendency to clot, known as hypercoagulability.
As a result of these three factors, a clot formed in the veins, most often in the lower extremities (legs and feet) and abdomen, travels to the right ventricle of the heart and then to the lungs via the pulmonary arteries, causing an embolism. The clot in the lungs, depending on its size, blocks one or more large or small vessels, disrupting blood flow to that area of the lung. The larger the vessels blocked in the lung, the more severe the consequences.
How Does a Pulmonary Embolism Occur?
Damage to the endothelium, the lining of the blood vessels.
Venous stasis, or stagnation of blood flow in the veins.
Increased tendency to clot, known as hypercoagulability.
As a result of these three factors, a clot formed in the veins, most often in the lower extremities (legs and feet) and abdomen, travels to the right ventricle of the heart and then to the lungs via the pulmonary arteries, causing an embolism. The clot in the lungs, depending on its size, blocks one or more large or small vessels, disrupting blood flow to that area of the lung. The larger the vessels blocked in the lung, the more severe the consequences.