Studies indicate that 50% of patients referred to cardiologists for chest pain are found to have non-cardiac chest pain, whereas only 11 to 39% of the patients who present themselves in the emergency or ambulatory department for chest pain have a final diagnosis of coronary artery disease. In this context, the article gives an overview of the possible differential diagnoses and investigations which may help clinicians to diagnose the underlying cause of chest pain. When a patient complains of chest pain that is crushing retrosternal pain or substernal pressure, then it is suggestive of a cardiac source of chest pain.
However, there are other terms that also convey the character of chest pain, including dull, aching, tightness, squeezing, soreness, burning, or ‘gas’. The presentation of chest pain in women is different than in men. Therefore, the physician has to be careful in analyzing…
