Respiratory / VISUAL EXPLAINER
HOW A BLOOD CLOT CAN BLOCK BLOOD FLOW TO THE LUNGS
A blood clot can lodge in a pulmonary artery and obstruct blood delivery beyond that point. This affects blood supply, not the airway itself; location and extent vary.
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What the illustration shows
Navy and gold educational poster headed HOW A BLOOD CLOT CAN BLOCK BLOOD FLOW TO THE LUNGS. A large opened Y-shaped pulmonary artery has blue flow arrows through an unblocked branch and a red clot inside the other branch. A dashed arrow beyond the clot indicates reduced downstream blood flow. Labels distinguish the clot, lumen, vessel wall, artery and unblocked branch. A small lung locator and two lower closeups show intraluminal lodging and the downstream vessel. The caveat says location and extent vary. Plain navy AllHumanBody.com footer.
How to interpret this poster
- Not every artery blocked, exact clot composition or numerical flow reduction. No risk labels, symptom triage, diagnosis, treatment or reassurance.
- AI-assisted educational illustration; not physician certification, a diagnosis or individualized medical advice.
- Fine annotations require enlargement; preserve the full uncropped illustration and its qualifiers.
AI-assisted educational illustration, adapted into web-sized images without changing its composition. This is general education, not an individual diagnosis or treatment recommendation.
EVIDENCE / CONTEXT
Sources and what they support
- NHLBI: Pulmonary embolism ↗
Clot can travel to a pulmonary artery and obstruct blood delivery.