Warning Signs of a Pulmonary Embolism

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The first sign of a problem can easily escape notice — there might be some pain and swelling in the leg, maybe some redness or cramping. But for nearly 1 million U.S. adults each year, it

doesn’t stop there, and the consequences can be deadly.

When a blood clot forms in a large vein located deep in the leg – what’s known as deep vein thrombosis, or DVT — there’s always the risk that the clot can break off and travel to another

part of the body. If it lands in the lungs, it’s called a pulmonary embolism. Estimates vary widely, but according to the American Lung Association, around 900,000 U.S. adults experience

this type of potentially life-threatening blockage each year — and adults older than 60 are at higher risk than their younger peers. 

“Embolism means something migrated from somewhere to another place” through connected blood vessels, says Behnood Bikdeli, M.D., a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an

assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Pulmonary, in this case, refers to the clot’s potentially fatal move into the lungs.

embolismShortness of breathFast breathingWheezingPain in the chest area that gets worse when you take a breathCoughPale or clammy skinRapid heartbeatExcessive sweatingFeeling lightheaded or

faint

If you experience these symptoms, seek immediate medical attention.

Source: Cleveland Clinic

Blood clots, overall, are blamed for about 100,000 deaths annually in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and pulmonary embolism, which restricts

blood flow to the lungs and strains the heart, accounts for about half of them, if not more.

One COVID-era study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology determined that more than 49,000 deaths in 2020 were related to pulmonary embolism, or PE. Other research

suggests PE kills many more people, making it the third-leading cause of cardiovascular death after heart attack and stroke.

In many instances, however, serious outcomes can be avoided with prompt diagnosis and treatment, which is why experts stress the importance of recognizing the warning signs of PE and

adopting habits that can lower the risk of one occurring. 

Often the signs start to surface well in advance of a blood clot lodging in your lungs, and may begin with pain and swelling in the legs from DVT.

“That will typically happen a few days before,” says Steve Pugliese, M.D., a pulmonary and critical care doctor and director for the Pulmonary Embolism Response Team at the Hospital of the

University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “So if all of a sudden you develop pain and swelling in the calf … and it’s not like this was something that happened after exercise, you should

be thinking about a DVT that could potentially travel to the lungs,” he says.

However, you can have a pulmonary embolism without any symptoms of a DVT, the CDC says. Signs and symptoms of pulmonary embolism can include:

Sudden and unexplained worsening shortness of breathChest pain, especially a sharp pain while breathingSudden loss of consciousnessCoughing, which may produce blood