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Case Study
37 yo woman w 6 months of recurring chest pain-many ER visits.
Average of one episode per week. Occurs mainly in daytime. No trauma
Burning, Crushing, substernal, radiates to both arms
No odynophagia, dysphagia, nausea, vomiting or typical heartburn sx.
Negative cardiac and pulmonary work-ups. PMH- Obesity, HTN, Depression, distant hx of PUD PSH: hospitalized for chest pain 2 months ago-
negative cardiac cath. All: NKDA Meds: Lopressor, 81 mg Aspirin- no
herbals/NSAIDS FHx: Father died of heart disease/ mother has HTN ROS: pos for SOB, palpitations, depression and
anxiety. Denies cough, wheezing, hemoptysis fever or chills.
Social: No vices
Case Cont
BP 120/68 WT 236 lbs BMI 38pulse 72
HEENT: NCAT Lungs: CTAB, No rib tenderness. CV: RRR, S1 and S2. No rubs,
murmurs or gallops. ABD: NABS, soft, Nontender,
nondisted, no organomegaly Ext: No c/c/e. no joint abnormalities Skin: intact except for mild
hirsutism. Neuro: AAOx3, nonfocal
Non-Cardiac Chest Pain (NCCP)Definition
Chest pain that resembles heart pain in patients who have no heart disease
Other terms used to describe this condition are:
*Atypical chest pain
*Chest pain of undetermined origin
*functional chest pain
*Chest pain with normal coronary angiogram
*Unexplained chest pain
*DaCosta’s syndrome
Epidemiology
One community-based study found the prevalence of NCCP to be as high as 23%.¹
A population-based study found that 66 to 90% of pts presenting to ED with chest pain were not of cardiac origin.²
Prevalence is equal in women and men but women seek medical attention more commonly.¹ ³׳
Chest pain is a very common presentation and puts a burden, both in cost and time, to emergency care delivery.
One year after they ruled out for CAD by angiogram, one survey found that 47% limited their activities, 51% were unable to work and 44% still believed they had CAD.4
1. Locke et al. Gastroenterology. 1997;112:1448-1456.
2. Katerndahl et al. J Fam Pract. 1997;45:54-63.
3. Fass et al. Curr Opin Gastroenterol. 2001;17:376-380.
4. Ockene et al. NEJM. 1980;303:1249.
Presentation
Burning, squeezing, crushing substernal chest pain
Radiation to the arms, neck, back and jaws
Improves with sublingual nitroglycerin/antacids
Can be accompanied by dyspnea, pleurisy
Essentially, clinical symptoms cannot differentiate cardiac chest pain from NCCP.
Differential
Non-Ischemic Cardiovascular Aortic Dissection
Myocarditis Pericarditis
Chest Wall Cervical disc
disease Costochondritis* Fibrositis Herpes
Zoster( before rash) Neuropathic pain Rib fracture Sternoclavicular
arthritis
Pulmonary Pleuritis Pneumonia Pulmonary embolus Tension pneumothorax
Psychiatric Affective disorders Anxiety disorders Somatoform disorders
Differential contGastrointestinal
Non-esophageal Biliary Peptic ulcer
disease pancreatitis
Esophageal Reflux
diseases Esophageal
spasm Esophageal
hypersensitivity
Pill esophagitis
HIV-AIDS diseases
Lye ingestion Achalasia
Impression
Non-cardiac chest pain most likely of esophageal origin.
Pathophysiology Pathological acid reflux Non-acid reflux Disturbed Motility Visceral hypersensitivity/Brain-gut
interactions Chemoreceptor, mechanoreceptor,
thermoreceptor malfunction Altered cerebral processing of sensory data
Psychological abnormalities- somatoform disorder
Next Step
What should be done next? Endoscopy Ambulatory pH monitoring Combined Impedance-pH
testing Esophageal manometry Acid suppression therapy.
Endoscopy
Insensitive- EE only in 5-10% of cases¹.
Highly specific Costly Invasive Not likely to change
management Can help identify structural
abnormalities associated w GERD, stricture, Schatzki’s ring, hiatal hernia
1. Cherian et al, Dis Esophagus 1995; 8:129
Ambulatory pH monitoring
Using endoscopy, a probe is attached to the distal esophagus to measure changes in pH for 48 hours.
Can be done on or off PPIs. Diary allows correlation between
symptoms and acid reflux. Sensitive and specific Can help rule out PPI resistance Costly Invasive- greater pt discomfort ( occ
chest pain) Can miss up to 25% of cases of
reflux-not due to “acid”
Impedance-pH monitoring
Performed the same way as pH monitoring but the probe has an added sensor for impedance.
It detects any bolus that enters the esophagus- acid, bile or other.
Increases the sensitivity of the probe
Same disadvantages as pH probe Additionally, it is not readily
available
The gold standard for diagnosis of GERD-related NCCP.
Esophageal Manometry
A thin probe is inserted intranasally and advanced into distal esophagus.
Measurements are recorded as the pt is asked to swallow sips of water.
Goal is to rule out motility disorders of the esophagus as cause for chest pain.
Not very sensitive but specific Tensilon (Edrophonium) provocation
can be used to increase sensitivity but it decreases the specificity by increasing the number of false positives.
Poorly tolerated by most patients/invasive/costly.
Acid suppression therapy
Also called the “PPI Test” Empiric trial of double dose PPI
therapy for 1 to 8 weeks. Readily available Cheap Noninvasive Well tolerated with few if any
side effects. Both diagnostic and
therapeutic advantages
Next Step
What should be done next? Endoscopy Ambulatory pH monitoring Combined Impedance-pH
testing Esophageal Manometry Acid suppression therapy.
The answer is…..
Empiric trial of High dose PPI Two meta-analyses combining 14
studies have validated the PPI test.¹ Sensitivity and specificity of 75-80%. Positive predictive value of ~90%.
One study, using a decision analysis model, found the “treat first” approach to be better:² 11% more diagnostic accuracy 43% reduction in invasive procedures $454 saving per patient as compared to proceeding
with endoscopy and pH monitoring.
1. Numans et al. Ann Intern Med 2004; 140:518.
2. Ofman et al. Am J Med 1999; 107:219.
Management
If the PPI test fails, then one should proceed with endoscopy/pH monitoring +/- impedance testing depending on availability.
Should it be performed on PPI therapy or not? It depends….. Is it GERD? Is it PPI resistance? (up to
20%).¹
1. Leite et al. Am J Gastroenterol 1996; 91:1572
Management
If there is no evidence of GERD and the pt continues to have chest pain, one can have manometry testing performed to rule out dysmotility OR one can try an empiric trial of calcium channel blockers.
Reason: manometry is uncomfortable and has a high false negative rate.
Finally if all the above fails, Esophageal Hyperesthesia is the most likely cause.
Try low dose TCAs- Trazodone and imipramine are most commonly used.