Pulmonary embolism ranks among the third most common cardiovascular disease after coronary artery disease and stroke. Unfortunately, the issue is partly down to a high ratio of delayed diagnoses and misdiagnoses. This was the case for one woman, whose sudden onset of symptoms was put down to asthma.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Danielle Kahn was just 36 when just developed a cough after returning from a business trip.
She explained: “When I returned to work a few days later, I had developed a strange hacking cough. Inconsistent with being fit from running, I was short of breath and dizzy when climbing stairs.
“I carried on for a few days, thinking I had a bad chest cold and I would be better in a few days.
“Then in the middle of the night, I woke up suddenly, my heart exploding as though I had been sprinting.
“It felt like someone had shot me in the lung, or like cotton was stuffed in my lungs. I didn’t know what was happening to me but I knew I had to get to the hospital.”
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Despite having trouble breathing, Danielle was able to drive herself to a nearby hospital where she says she had a poor experience.
According to the CDC report, she was misdiagnosed with asthma and therefore discharged from the clinical unit.
It wasn’t until she eventually secured an appointment with a pulmonologist that she was correctly diagnosed with pulmonary embolism.
The 36-year-old had no risk factors for PE except an hour-long flight and dehydration, which can both cause blood clots.
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However, Doctor Karlyn Martin, an assistant professor of medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago explains that the condition can strike anyone, regardless of age.
She said: “Unfortunately, PE can strike people at all stages of life, from the young and healthy to the older and not as healthy.”
According to the expert, sometimes it takes patients days or weeks before going to the hospital to get their symptoms checked.
In fact, symptoms of pulmonary embolism, like shortness of breath and mild pain and pressure in the chest, can linger for six weeks or more.
