“Acute chest pain”

A 74-year-old man, with inflammatory arthritis, recently commenced on adalimumab, presented with a 4-week history of left-sided chest pain, malaise and shortness of breath. Admission ECG showed age-indeterminate left bundle branch block. Troponin T was 4444 ng/L (normal range <15 ng/L) and acute coronary syndrome treatment was commenced. Catheter angiogram revealed mild-burden non-obstructive coronary disease. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) was performed to refine the differential diagnosis and demonstrated no myocardial oedema or late gadolinium enhancement...

The clinical spectrum of pericardial effusions varies from innocuous serous fluid to life-threatening hemopericardium. A misdiagnosis may be made by similar clinical presentation of acute chest pain/hypotension. Echocardiography is the first-line test for diagnosis of pericardial effusion and its etiology, but sometimes there are different drawbacks to the correct cardiovascular ultrasound diagnosis. Radiologists are reporting an increasing amount of thoracic Multidetector CT examinations at the emergency department...

Acute pancreatitis can be associated with electrical changes mimicking acute coronary syndrome with normal coronary arteries. The association of acute pancreatitis with ST-segment elevation and elevated cardiac enzymes has been reported in few observations. The pathophysiological mechanisms of this association remain poorly understood. We report the case of a 63-year-old woman presenting with chest pain, changes in the electrocardiogram and elevated cardiac enzymes with normal coronary arteries associated with acute pancreatitis...

A 6-year-old male child patient was brought to the emergency pediatric room with alleged history of accidental ingestion of approximately 15 mL kerosene oil. The child developed vomiting shortly after the consumption. Chest radiograph taken 6 hours after ingestion did not show any abnormalities. On the second day of hospital stay, the patient started complaining of severe abdominal pain. His serum amylase and lipase levels were elevated significantly, suggesting the development of acute pancreatitis. He was investigated for the other possible causes of acute pancreatitis, which were normal...

In December 2019, China reported several cases of a new coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The COVID-19 outbreak, which was initially limited to Wuhan, China, has rapidly spread worldwide. Infection of the disease occurs through exposure to the virus through inhalation of respiratory droplets or if a person touches a mucosal surface after touching an object with the virus on it. The common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough, dyspnea (difficult or labored breathing), fatigue, chest pain, and myalgia (muscle pain), etc...

Background: Familial hypercholesterolaemia is a well-known disorder, but clinical diagnoses tend to be delayed. Acute coronary syndrome may occur in childhood. Case summary: Our patient, a young boy with homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia, complained of persistent chest pain at rest and suffered a non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). The diagnosis of NSTEMI was made on the basis of his clinical features, dynamic electrocardiogram changes, troponin elevation, and cardiac computed tomography findings...

Although PEGylated filgrastim-induced aortitis is very rare and unknown clinically, some cases were reported and increasing, especially in breast cancer patients. The present study investigated the prevalence, clinical features and treatment of aortitis induced by PEGylated filgrastim in patients with breast cancer. A total of 2068 consecutive patients who underwent neoadjuvant/adjuvant chemotherapy with PEGylated filgrastim for breast cancer were enrolled. From the medical record, clinical, laboratory, medication, and imaging evaluation findings were collected...

INTRODUCTION: Severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic has spread from Wuhan, China in December, 2019 to 216 countries and territories as of September 10, 2020 with 27.74 million cases and 899,911 confirmed deaths. The spectrum of disease is most commonly seen as a viral pneumonia with high grade fevers, shortness of breath, dry cough, and chest pain with radiologic evidence of bilateral, interstitial, ground glass opacities, and peripheral lung consolidation...

BACKGROUND: Individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) suffer from recurrent catastrophic pain crises that are often managed by opioid analgesics. Being adherent to hydroxyurea has been associated with decreased health care resource use for pain; however, evidence of its association with opioid use is limited. OBJECTIVE: To determine if adherence to hydroxyurea is associated with opioid use among patients with SCD. METHODS: This retrospective study used Texas Medicaid data from September 1, 2011, to August 31, 2016 (study period)...

Background: Chest pain is a common symptom in patients visiting the emergency department (ED). Diagnosing acute coronary syndrome is a challenging task for emergency physicians. Evaluation of chest pain depends on clinical symptoms and signs, ECG, and cardiac enzymes. Here, we aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of the point-of-care troponin I assay with laboratory HsTnT assay in patients presenting to the ED with chest pain. Methods: A prospective study was done at the ED of Alkhor Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, between March 2016 and December 2016...

Background: The Barthel index (BI) is a widely used assessment tool for evaluating physical performance in activities of daily living (ADL). The association between BI scores and mortality in hospital and during follow-up of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients remains unclear. The present study investigated whether the BI score could be used as a predictor for mortality of ACS. Methods: We investigated ACS patients from the multi-center Retrospective Evaluation of Acute Chest Pain (REACP) study...

BACKGROUND COVID-19 is the disease caused by the novel virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The spectrum of disease seen in patients with COVID-19 infection ranges from asymptomatic or mild symptoms to severe pneumonia and even acute respiratory distress syndrome, which often requires invasive ventilation and intensive care. COVID-19-associated infection can be catastrophic, leading to both arterial and venous occlusion, microinfarcts, and multiorgan failure, although retinal vein occlusion has not yet been reported...

A sinus of Valsalva aneurysm is a rare defect that is usually asymptomatic. We report a sinus of Valsalva aneurysm arising from the left coronary sinus with compression of the left main coronary artery in a 56-year-old man who presented with worsening chest pain. Coronary imaging revealed a 4.6-cm sinus of Valsalva aneurysm with compression of the left main stem, left anterior descending, and proximal circumflex arteries. He underwent aortic root and ascending aortic replacement. Large sinus of Valsalva aneurysms can be life-threatening and can be managed safely surgically...

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCOM) is a syndrome characterized by acute systolic dysfunction that can mimic acute coronary syndrome (ACS), usually incited by physical or emotional stress. However, acute neurological dysfunction, including seizures, has been recently described as an additional risk factor for the development of TCOM. This specific case report reviews the pathophysiology of TCOM and its management. We emphasize that providers should maintain a high index of suspicion for TCOM after acute neurologic dysfunction in patients with chest pain or hemodynamic instability, while also initiating proper investigation for ACS...

Coronary artery fistulas (CAFs) are described as abnormal communications between a coronary artery and cardiac chambers, or other vascular structures. The two types of CAFs are defined as type I (singular fistula) and type II (microfistulas). Even though various electrocardiographic changes have been previously described in CAF patients, coronary-artery microfistulas causing ST-segment elevation in diverse locations have not been reported. We describe a case report of an adult patient who presented with acute inferior myocardial infarction due to coronary-artery microfistulas...

OBJECTIVE: We compare utilization of diagnostic resources and admissions in emergency department (ED) patients with chest pain and abdominal pain when managed by advanced practice providers (APPs) and physicians. METHODS: We used 2016 to 2019 data from a national emergency medicine group. We compared visits managed by physicians and APPs based on demographics and observed resource utilization (labs, radiography, computed tomography) use and hospital admission/transfer, stratified by patient age...

We encountered a rare case of thymic cyst accompanied by mediastinitis. A 39-year-old Japanese male presented with fever and chest pain. The chest CT revealed a mass composed of a lobular cystic lesion with inflammation, suggesting the onset of mediastinitis. A definitive histological diagnosis was not obtained, and we performed a thymectomy. Pathologically, the thymic cyst was accompanied by multiple cavities, mimicking thymic cysts, caused by the inflammatory abscess. The surrounding adipose tissue showed inflammatory cell infiltrations with chronic fibrosis...

Approximately 5% of all emergency department (ED) visits require evaluation of chest pain and atypical symptoms for diagnosis or exclusion of myocardial infarction or acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (P. ). Health care providers rely on effective tests and assessment protocols for definitive diagnosis of ACS. Cardiac biomarkers in troponin T assays enable rapid exclusion of ACS. This project compared high-sensitivity troponin T assay to conventional troponin T assay in reducing unnecessary stress tests for ACS exclusion, length of stay in the ED, and rate of readmissions within 30 days after ACS exclusion and discharge...

BACKGROUND Triangular QRS-ST-T waveform (TW) electrocardiography pattern has been found to be associated with poor prognosis in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). It identifies a subset of patients at high risk of both ventricular fibrillation and cardiogenic shock, with high in-hospital mortality. Therefore, aggressive treatment is needed in patients presenting with this electrocardiography pattern. However, this pattern is rarely present in non-ischemic cardiac diseases. CASE REPORT We report the case of a 50-year-old man who came to our emergency room with a chief complaint of gastrointestinal problems and partial bowel obstruction...

BACKGROUND: Although chest pain and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are among the most common complaints in the Emergency Departments (ED), little is known about this topic in the octogenarian population. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to describe the clinical presentation and to evaluate survival time according to the ACS type in a group of 80-year-old or over patients admitted for chest pain to an ED. METHODS: Patients were classified according to the discharge diagnosis...