Cardiovascular System: A Case Study

Case Study #3 1. Based on my understanding of the cardiovascular system, a blood clot is a gel that consists of the formed elements of blood trapped in a network of insoluble protein fibers (Tortora,2014, p.335). How clotting is formed when a series of chemical reactions that culminates in the formation of fibrin threads (Tortora,2014, p.335). When blood is easily clots it’s called thrombosis, a thrombosis is a formation of a clot in an unbroken blood vessel, usually in a vein (Tortora,2014, p.335). When the thrombi become dislodged and the clot travels in the bloodstream it can end up in the lungs. Which cause damage to the lungs and that condition is called pulmonary embolism (PE) (Haines, 2015). A pulmonary embolism is the presence of a blood clot or a foreign substance in a pulmonary arterial blood vessel that obstruct circulation to lung tissue …show more content…
2. The condition this patient is in is Thrombophlebitis. It is when a blood clot blocks one or more of your veins, typically in your legs. There are two parts of this condition, when the vein that’s near the surface of the skin that is affected that causes superficial thrombosis or when it is deep within the muscle it causes deep vein thrombophlebitis (DVT) (Mayoclinic.org, 2015). So to be exact the patient has superficial thrombosis because superficial thrombophlebitis usually happens in the calf and since the patient’s blood clot and visible signs was found on the calf. Some of the things that can cause thrombophlebitis is sitting for too long like