Chest Pain
There are many different causes of chest pain, but the most common heart problems causing chest pain include:
• Angina or a heart attack – If you have a pressing pain in the chest, upper abdomen, neck or left arm that is worse on exercise and better at rest, please seek urgent attention as this may get more serious, come on at rest and turn into a heart attack.
• Pericarditis – usually causing a sudden, sharp stabbing pain that gets worse when you breath-in deeply or lie down. It can affect you at any age and is less serious than angina.
Angina is more likely in those who:
• Smoke
• Are obese
• Have High Blood Pressure
• Diabetes
• High Cholesterol
• Have a history of heart attacks or angina in family members under 60 years of age
Most chest pain isn’t usually a sign of anything serious, but it is always worth seeking medical advice.
If you think you are having a heart attack, please call 999 immediately.
If you would like to seek professional advice, our consultant cardiologists can assess your risk, and either reassure you or get immediate treatment started.
You may need an ECG, Transthoracic Echocardiography (TTE) and bloods in the 1st instance.
For chest pain symptoms, and an angina diagnosis, we may need to carry out the following investigations and tests:
• Blood tests
• ECG
• Echocardiogram
• Stress Echocardiogram
• Exercise Test
• Myocardial Perfusion Scanning
• CT Coronary Angiogram
Treatments can include:
• Medication
• Coronary Angioplasty