2/3 of pulmonary embolism cases are misdiagnosed. Over 600,000 cases of pulmonary embolism occur every year and only 1/3 are ever diagnosed correctly. If you go to an emergency room and they miss the diagnosis and send you home the chances of dying increase because there is a chance an emboli will recur.
Symptoms:
- Shortness of breath (dyspnea)
- Chest pain
- some sort of shock (sometimes low blood pressure)
- syncope (fainting)
Diagnostic tests used to find Pulmonary Embolism:
- Chest x-ray
- Sometimes you will see the doctors rule out a DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis),
- Blood gases to check for oxygen levels
Jim
Dave