Spontaneous cerebral calcific embolus from the aortic arch

Abstract

Spontaneous calcific embolism is an uncommon cause of stroke. In most cases calcified cardiac valves are the sources of the emboli although embolization of calcific material from the brachiocephalic trunk has also been described. We report a case of stroke attributable to spontaneous calcific emboli from the aortic arch in which migration of the emboli was observed along the middle cerebral artery following iv tPA.