Paradoxical and Retrograde Air Embolism from Pressurized Peripheral Bolus

Figure 2

Arterial air emboli: pathway of air emboli paradoxically travelling from the right atrium across an intracardiac shunt into the left atrium and subsequently into the left ventricle and aorta before entering the carotid and then intracranial arteries, thereby causing air emboli to enter the brain.