Thinking he was tired from playing sports, the young man almost died of a pulmonary embolism

On February 4, doctor Tran Viet Hung, Cardiovascular Emergency Department – Cardiovascular 1, Nguyen Trai Hospital, said the patient was admitted to the hospital in critical condition, with severe shortness of breath and low blood pressure. Two days earlier, after playing sports, the patient was short of breath and had difficulty breathing, but thinking it was due to fatigue, he bought himself medicine and still went to work.

At the Emergency Department, doctors determined that the patient had typical symptoms of obstructive shock. Test results determined that the patient had a large pulmonary embolism. This is a blockage of the pulmonary artery (usually due to a blood clot moving from somewhere else), causing oxygen to not be able to enter the blood and the heart to be under enormous pressure, leading to rapid circulatory collapse.

“This condition progresses extremely quickly and is life-threatening if blood vessels are not revascularized promptly,” the doctor said.

The treatment team decided to use fibrinolytic drugs – the optimal treatment method to dissolve blood clots in this emergency situation. Only about 30 minutes after the drug infusion, the patient’s condition improved dramatically, with difficulty breathing reduced, blood pressure increased to a stable level, and heart rate decreased. The patient escaped life-threatening cardiogenic shock and continues to be closely monitored.

Saving lives is only the first step, because the big question is why a patient who is very young, has no trauma, does not use stimulants or has a malignant disease would have such a severe embolism. In-depth tests later showed that the patient had antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) – a rare autoimmune disease in young men, causing increased blood clotting and a high risk of recurrent thrombosis. After 10 days of treatment, the patient was discharged from the hospital in stable condition and was prescribed long-term anticoagulation to prevent recurrence.

Dr. Ly Minh Khanh warns that pulmonary embolism can easily be mistaken for normal fatigue. People need to see a doctor immediately if they have signs such as sudden shortness of breath, chest pain, nervousness, dizziness, fast heartbeat or swelling and pain on one side of the calf (signs suggesting deep vein thrombosis, which can move to the lungs).