Table 2. Symptoms and signs in patients presenting with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) *.
| Common symptoms (>50%) |
| Dyspnea |
| Sudden-onset dyspnea |
| Pleuritic chest pain |
| Less-common symptoms (16–49%) |
| Cough † |
| Lightheadedness/presyncope |
| Syncope |
| Leg swelling/pain |
| Rare symptoms (<15%) |
| Gradual onset of dyspnea |
| Orthopnea |
| Hemoptysis |
| Angina-like chest pain |
| Palpitations |
| Wheezing |
| Signs |
| Visible anxiety |
| Fever |
| Tachycardia |
| Tachypnea |
| Hypotension |
| Chest wall tenderness |
| Leg swelling/tenderness |
| Wheezing |
| Signs of overt right ventricular failure (e.g. neck
vein distension, right ventricular S3) |
*Symptoms vary based upon the embolic burden and physiologic response to the embolism as well as upon the presence or absence of underlying cardiopulmonary disease.
†Both cough and fever in the setting of acute PE are often due to non-PE related comorbidities.