Do not miss the signs of a blood clot

The patient was young, healthy and short of breath. She had not been sick recently, other than a minor cough. Her oxygen level was normal and her lungs sounded clear. Her heart rate was a little fast and she was breathing rather quickly, too. She was anxious about it, but she knew there was more to this than anxiety. Meanwhile, she was taking an antibiotic for bronchitis which did not seem to be helping. We did some additional tests, some blood work, to look for other possible causes. One test result gave us a big clue: her "d-dimer" was elevated. While not tied to a specific diagnosis, this g...