A 73 year old woman presents to your rural emergency department with chest pain for the last 3 hours. This pain is a left sided, crushing sensation which radiates into the patient’s left arm. The pain is exacerbated by exertion. There is some shortness of breath with exertion. There is no cough or fever. The patient does not report any digestive problems. The patient has been otherwise healthy and is not on any medication.
The patient is diaphoretic. Heart sounds are normal. Breath sounds are normal. There is no tenderness to abdominal or chest wall palpation.
The symptoms described are classic cardiac type chest pain. This requires urgent investigation and mobilization.
Costochondritis provides reproducible pain on palpation, and does not change with exertion. Pneumonia comes with fever and cough. PE presents with pleuritic chest pain and tachypnea and tachycardia. GERD is typically epigastric with prandial changes
Card: Chest Pain A MC 001
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