Introduction to the Terms Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Embolism

Arteriosclerosis as a medical term has its origins in the 18th century and refers to “hardening of the arteries” and is composed of two words, arterio and sclerosis. Arterio is derived from the Latinized form of the Greek word arteria, which originally meant “windpipe” or “an artery”. Sclerosis refers to “morbid hardening of the tissues” and -osis is a Greek suffix meaning “a state of disease”. The term thrombosis has its origins in the Greek word thrombos, meaning “lump, piece, clot of blood, curd of milk”. The term was first used to describe venous thrombosis. The first well-documented case of deep venous thrombosis appeared during the Middle Ages, and the major pathologic mechanisms of the disease were discovered by the middle of the 19th century, recapitulated by the German physician and pathologist Virchow. He realized that a venous thrombus can dislodge from its origins and travel through the blood stream and cause the blockade of vessels of other organs, hence also the term embolism.