CLINICAL-CAUSES OF ACUTE CHEST PAIN

SUMMARY

COMMON CAUSES, FROM INSIDE OUT

1. Cardiac - angina, ACS (central, crushing, radiating to the jaw +/- left arm).

2. Pericardial - pericarditis/myocarditis (pleuritic chest pain, worse on lying down).

3. Vascular - aortic dissection (acute, radiates to the back).

4. Pulmonary - PE, pneumonia.

5. Pleural - pneumothorax (sudden onset, assoc. with dyspnoea), pleurisy (pleuritic chest pain).

6. Chest wall - (spontaneous/traumatic) rib fracture, costochondritis (Tietze's syndrome).

7. GIT - GORD, pancreatitis.

Reference(s)

Wilkinson, I., Furmedge, D. and Sinharay, R. (2017). Oxford handbook of clinical medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Get it on Amazon.
Feather, A., Randall, D. and Waterhouse, M. (2020). Kumar And Clark’s Clinical Medicine. 10th ed. S.L.: Elsevier Health Sciences. Get it on Amazon.
Hannaman, R. A., Bullock, L., Hatchell, C. A., & Yoffe, M. (2016). Internal medicine review core curriculum, 2017-2018. CO Springs, CO: MedStudy.
Therapeutic Guidelines. Melbourne: Therapeutic Guidelines Limited. https://www.tg.org.au [Accessed 2021].