With cholesterol embolisms, small pieces are washed from the plaques and then deposited via the blood stream in the smallest vessels, usually in the toes, which results in an acute circulatory disorder of these parts of the body. Cholesterol embolisms are caused by frequent pronounced plaque formation in the abdominal artery (particularly in the case of an abdominal aorta aneurysm) and in the pelvic arteries.