Cardiology

Five facts about atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is a fast and irregular heart rhythm that, left untreated, can lead to blood clots, stroke and heart failure. It's the most common type of arrhythmia, a potentially serious condition in which ...

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A thrombus (Greek θρόμβος), or blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. It is achieved via the aggregation of platelets that form a platelet plug, and the activation of the humoral coagulation system (i.e. clotting factors). A thrombus is normal in cases of injury, but pathologic in instances of thrombosis.

Mural thrombi are thrombi adherent to the vessel wall. They are not occlusive and affect large vessels, such as heart and aorta. Grossly they appear grey-red with alternating light and dark lines (lines of Zahn) which represent bands of fibrin (darker) with entrapped white blood cells and red blood cells (lighter).

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