blood clot damage

Hello, thanks for taking my question. I suffered from a blood clot about 30 years ago. I was on BC pills and after a 6 hour drive ended up in ER with severe arm and chest pain, shortness of breath, blueness around my mouth and fingers, heartrate of 130. At the time the drs. were puzzeled because of my age (20)and only gave me pain meds. The pain became so severe, I passed out, when I came to the pain was gone. I was released the next day. There were no tests done. (I think this was because I was young and at the time, the correlation between BC pills and blood clots was not well known) Since then I have not had any symptoms except for frequent pvcs. (they have been checked out and don't limit my lifestyle) No one has ever told me what really happened to me that night. I realize you cannot tell me exactly what happened, but judging by the symptoms, where would the blood clot have been? Heart? Lungs? Did it just end up passing through and end up where?  Could it have caused any permanent damage to my heart that wouldn't show up on a ekg or echo this many years later? This has always been in the back of my mind and would appreciate some insight. Again, I realize you can't give me definative answers to my exact situation, but insight into what may have happened and what effect it may have had on my lungs or heart would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[CCF-M.D.-MJM]

Hello,

I think you are probably right -- it sounds like you had a blood clot.  80% of the time, blood clots form in the large veins of your lower extremity and if they break free, they migrate to your right heart and lungs.  The final destination is usually the lungs.

Some people with severe pulmonary emboli can develop pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure.  If  you aren't having any problems yet and the blood clot was 30 years ago, I would not expect any problems to show up now.  If you aren't having any symptoms of shortness of breath or heart failure symptoms, again, I don't think you need to worry.

Avoid things that increase your risk of blood clots: long trips without moving around, smoking, estrogen pills or BC pills (probably not an issue now).  It would be unlikely for a blood clot to cause PVCs 30 years later with no other associated symptoms.

I hope this helps.  Good luck and thanks for posting.