This type of brain injury is referred to as a stroke. Ischemic Stroke Ischemic strokes result when a blood vessel becomes blocked. Another term for ischemic stroke is cerebral infarction. An infarction is an area of necrosis, or tissue death, which is due to obstruction of a blood vessel. Blood clots may form inside an artery that leads to the brain and block the blood flow.
Atherosclerosis involves a buildup of rough, fatty deposits on the blood vessel walls.
These deposits may narrow the passageway, causing blood flow to slow down and, sometimes, to completely stop from a blocked artery. An embolism results when a blood clot originates somewhere other than the brain. For example, a blood clot may form in the heart or in a blood vessel in the neck. The blood clot can break loose and travel through the arteries as they branch into smaller vessels until the clot reaches a point where it can go no further and plugs the vessel, cutting off the blood supply. This sudden blockage is called an embolism.