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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffChest pain can come on suddenly at any time. You try to ignore it at first, but your chest pain has you scared and worried. Could you be having a heart attack? Should you go to the emergency room (ER)?
Chest pain is one of the most common reasons people call for emergency medical help. Every year emergency room doctors evaluate and treat millions of people for chest pain.
Fortunately, chest pain doesn't always signal a heart attack. Often chest pain is unrelated to any heart problem. But even if the chest pain you experience has nothing to do with your cardiovascular system, the problem may still be important — and worth the time spent in an emergency room for evaluation.
- Meisel JL. Diagnostic approach to chest pain in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 20, 2009.
- Cannon CP, et al. Approach to the patient with chest pain. In: Libby P, et al, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..50052-2&uniq=159657875&isbn=978-1-4160-4106-1&sid=887271424. Accessed Sept. 20, 2009.
- Talley NJ. Functional gastrointestinal disorders: Irritable bowel syndrome, dyspepsia, and noncardiac chest pain. In: Goldman L, et al., eds. Goldman: Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/159657875-6/887271424/1492/531.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2805-5..50144-0--cesec86_5963. Accessed Sept. 20, 2009.
- What is angina? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Angina/Angina_WhatIs.html. Accessed Sept. 20, 2009.
- What is a heart attack? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/HeartAttack/HeartAttack_WhatIs.html. Accessed Sept. 20, 2009.
- Shingles disease: Questions and answers (herpes zoster). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/shingles/dis-faqs.htm. Accessed Sept. 20, 2009.
- Mercier LR. Costochondritis. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2010. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/160691114-3/889462700/2088/162.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05609-0..00012-5--sc0235_3245. Accessed Sept. 20, 2009.
- What are pleurisy and other disorders of the pleura. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/pleurisy/pleurisy_treatments.html. Accessed Sept. 20, 2009.
- Ferri FF. Angina pectoris. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2010. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/160691114-8/889471687/2088/48.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05609-0..00010-1--s4220_886. Accessed Sept. 20, 2009.
- Heart attack, stroke and cardiac arrest warning signs. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3053. Accessed Sept. 20, 2009.
- Grogan M (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Sept. 25, 2009.
