We reviewed 61 autopsy cases of coronary embolism observed over an 18 year period (up to the end of 1983) out of a total of 4 860 post-mortems performed on adults dying of cardiovascular causes in order to determine the nature and site of embolisation, the site of origin and establish the clinical features and evolution. A total of 75 emboli were found in the 61 cases (47 single, 11 double and 3 triple emboli). The emboli were recent fibrinothrombi in 43 cases; there were 9 associated calcific emboli, 2 embolized fragments of myocardium, 1 of Teflon and 1 of malignant tissue; the diagnosis was made "retrospectively" in 5 cases on a number of criteria. The main site of embolisation was the left anterior descending artery (34 cases) followed by the right coronary (20 cases), left circumflex (14 cases) and left main coronary artery (7 cases); obstruction was observed at the coronary ostium (7 left, 2 right) in 9 patients. The origins of the emboli were varied: 19 intracardiac thromboses (left atrial 10, left ventricule 6, suture of left atriotomy 3) 12 bacterial vegetations in cases of infective endocarditis, 10 thrombosis of prosthetic valves, 9 calcific emboli (8 aortic stenosis, 1 calcification of the ascending aorta) and 10 others.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)