Pulmonary Embolism Symptoms

"Recently my wife (35 years old) was diagnosed with Angina. During the past week, she complained of severe discomfort under her right chest. She was presented to the emergency room and was diagnosed with pulmonary embolism. We're still not aware of how blood clots affect her lungs. She has been experiencing various symptoms although I'm not still sure, if they're pulmonary embolism symptoms. Some of the symptoms that she frequently complains about are: burning pain on either side of chest varying in degrees, dry cough, pain in her back both sides at lower lung level and sense of discomfort in area around lungs. We've scheduled an appointment with an expert for further treatments" ~ Peter, California.

In the above comment by Peter, it's obvious that pulmonary embolism is related to blood clotting in the lungs. Pulmonary embolisms occur when there is a sudden blocking of the arteries (called the pulmonary artery) of the lungs. This blocking can be due to various reasons like a blood clot (thrombus) or blockage by some foreign material that has been brought by the bloodstream.

Symptoms
Pulmonary embolism is a blood clot in the lungs and various embolism symptoms are mostly spread in the area around lungs, chest and abdomen. The signs of pulmonary embolism stem from blood clots that travel from smaller vessels in the leg, pelvis, arms and heart to lungs and they gradually get wedged into the blood vessels of lungs thereby preventing any further movement of the blood. When the blood supply is completely obstructed in some specific section of the lung, no oxygen reaches to it and so it dies. This medical condition is known as lung infarct.The extent to which an individual can be affected by the pulmonary embolism depends on the severity of the pulmonary artery blockage and the overall health of the person. In cases, where people are suffering from chronic pulmonary diseases or experiencing discomfort in lungs due to underlying medical condition, pulmonary embolism symptoms can take more severe form.

Small emboli (obstructions like blood clot) may not cause any symptoms, however, symptoms may develop suddenly or abruptly due to considerable size of emboli. Shortness of breath is one of the most common indications of pulmonary embolism. Some people may experience fast breathing leading to restlessness, sweating and anxiety attacks. One of the other symptoms of this disease is pain on either sides of the chest. In some people it results in dizziness, lightheadedness, fainting and seizures. Older people suffering from pulmonary embolism will firstly show symptoms of mental confusion. This is due to the fact that blood's ability to reach oxygen to brain and other organ decreases. If the emboli is too large, there can be dangers of low blood pressure range and the skin may become pale blue. In cases of pulmonary infarction, the person may show blood sputum while coughing and can complain of sharp chest pain.

Some of the bilateral symptoms include pain in shoulder and at the back side of the rib cage. In acute stages of this medical complication, symptoms like dangerous respiratory consequences, increased alveolar dead space and hypoxemia occur. In pregnancy phasecan often be dangerous for both, the mother and baby.

Generally, women having problems of lung diseases are at higher risk of suffering from pulmonary embolism during pregnancy. Medical supervision is absolutely necessary and any symptoms must be immediately dealt with seriousness. Patient care is necessary in case of pulmonary embolism because sudden shortness of breath or similar symptoms can require immediate medical assistance.