Stroke question: How can a person have a clogged basilar artery when his carotids are clear?

It is very true that the most common cause for stroke is a piece of plaque breaks off from the carotid and blocks a vessel in the brain. However, that is not what happened to your husband. There are other possibilities. He could have had "vegetations" on his heart valves from an old infection, the clot could have formed inside his heart from an abnormal rhythm, and the clot could have formed in his leg (common) but the only way to get to the brain would be a hole between his atria called a patent foramen ovale. This is what happened to my dad and also to New Englan Patriot linebacker Ted Bruschi (sp?), a day after he won a Super Bowl.