It is a known fact vioxx caused blood platelets to stick together causing clots. Once a thrombus is formed within a deep vein, it will continue to grow as additional clotting factors collect and adhere themselves to the original clot. But this thrombus is not completely stable. The real problem lies in the fact that pieces can break off from the thrombus and join in the blood stream to be carried upward toward the heart and lungs. Once a clot joins the blood stream and begins to move, we no longer call it a thrombus. It is now called an embolus. To reach the heart and lung from the legs, the embolus must travel up through the inferior vena cava, a large vein in the posterior abdomen. Eventually the embolus will reach the heart where it will travel through the left
atrium and ventricle and be pumped out into the pulmonary arteries that lead to the lungs. This embolus will continue to travel within the pulmonary vasculature, which divides again and again into smaller and smaller arteries within this tree-like network, until the embolus reaches a vessel too small to pass through. At this point the embolus will become lodged forming a dam that will block further blood flow through this artery. This blockage of blood flow and the resulting reduction in lung function is called an embolism.
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