Determining the source of arterial embolism is essential in order to direct treatment decisions. Treatment options vary and include anti-coagulation, endovascular or surgical embolectomy, and peripheral arterial angioplasty with or without stenting to maintain long- term vascular patency [1,9,11-14]. The variants in this document assume that the diagnosis of an arterial occlusion has already been established by other means. For example, in the setting of an acute onset cold painful leg, the use of lower extremity arteriography, CT angiography (CTA), or MR angiography (MRA) could be employed to demonstrate arterial occlusion. This document specifically pertains to the workup of a suspected embolic etiology of the already known arterial occlusion. aResearch Author, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. bUT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. cNaval Medical Center Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Virginia. dPanel Chair, Emory Healthcare, Atlanta, Georgia. ePanel Chair, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina. fPanel Vice-Chair, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. gPanel Vice-Chair, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. hUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. iAllegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. jUniversity of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. kSentara Norfolk General Hospital/Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, Virginia; American College of Emergency Physicians. lVA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California and Stanford University, Stanford, California. mThe University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas; Commission on Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. nDuke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, Primary care physician. oMayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. pSpecialty Chair, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas.
Workup of Noncerebral Systemic Arterial Embolic Source. Determining the source of arterial embolism is essential in order to direct treatment decisions. Treatment options vary and include anti-coagulation, endovascular or surgical embolectomy, and peripheral arterial angioplasty with or without stenting to maintain long- term vascular patency [1,9,11-14]. The variants in this document assume that the diagnosis of an arterial occlusion has already been established by other means. For example, in the setting of an acute onset cold painful leg, the use of lower extremity arteriography, CT angiography (CTA), or MR angiography (MRA) could be employed to demonstrate arterial occlusion. This document specifically pertains to the workup of a suspected embolic etiology of the already known arterial occlusion. aResearch Author, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. bUT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. cNaval Medical Center Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Virginia. dPanel Chair, Emory Healthcare, Atlanta, Georgia. ePanel Chair, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina. fPanel Vice-Chair, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. gPanel Vice-Chair, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. hUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. iAllegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. jUniversity of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. kSentara Norfolk General Hospital/Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, Virginia; American College of Emergency Physicians. lVA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California and Stanford University, Stanford, California. mThe University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas; Commission on Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. nDuke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, Primary care physician. oMayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. pSpecialty Chair, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas.