How to Approach Acute Chest Pain
Chest pain demands rapid identification of immediately dangerous causes while maintaining a structured diagnostic approach.
Published
Updated
D
Dr. Daniel Mensah
MBChB, MSc
Overview
Acute chest pain has a broad differential diagnosis. The initial assessment should prioritize conditions associated with significant immediate risk.
Important Differential Diagnoses
Important considerations include acute coronary syndromes, pulmonary embolism, acute aortic syndromes, pneumothorax and other potentially serious cardiopulmonary conditions.
Initial Investigations
The initial work-up should be guided by clinical probability and may include electrocardiography, cardiac biomarkers and targeted imaging.