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‹  Chest pain differential diagnosis

Cardiovascular

  • Acute coronary syndrome
  • Angina
  • Aortic dissection
  • Arrhythmia
  • Valve disease
  • Acute pericarditis (pleuritic)
  • Cardiac tamponade
  • Stress (Takotsubo) cardiomyopathy or broken heart syndrome

Pleuritic chest pain i.e. pain on inspiration which is a sign of pleural inflammation. Caused by:

  • Pneumonia
  • PE
  • Pneumothorax
  • Pericarditis
  • Viral pleurisy
  • Lung cancer
  • Pleural effusion

GI

  • GERD: commonest non-cardiovascular cause
  • Peptic ulcer disease
  • Gallstones
  • Pancreatitis

Other

  • Musculoskeletal: trauma, costochondritis
  • Anxiety: panic attack
  • Functional: chest wall syndrome
  • Shingles. pain may come before the rash
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