Coughing and spitting up blood
The signs and symptoms of a pulmonary embolism may vary from one person to another. Some people may not have the usual abrupt onset with severe chest pain but may start with simple respiratory symptoms such as cough and shortness of breath that aggravates progressively as the time passes by. Coughing up blood is not the most common symptom in pulmonary embolism, It’s an atypical symptom instead, but it is an alarming symptom that should advise for urgent medical attention.
This sign is called hemoptysis, and it happened when the blood vessels of the lungs rupture and the blood that circulates through them would pass on the respiratory tract. It is a very urgent sign that requires immediate medical evaluation, even if it’s not accompanied by chest pain or any other symptom.
However, the major part of the cases we won’t see any blood, just productive coughing of transparent mucus, which is caused because there’s fluid in the lungs, also called pulmonary edema, which leaks from the blood vessels affected by the clot.
