Session 9 ILOS - Chest Pain and Acute Coronary Syndromes Flashcards
What are the 2 types of chest pain?
Cardiac (ischaemic)
Pleuritic
Describe the anatomy of the thoracic cavity from superficial to deep that can result in chest pain (7)
- Skin
- Musculoskeletal (bone/muscle/cartilage)
- Trachea
- Lungs
- Heart
- GI Tract
- Blood vessels - aorta
Identify the different systems that can cause chest pain (5)
Different systems can because chest pain:
- Cardiac (heart muscle and pericardial sac)
- Respiratory (lungs and pleura)
- Musculoskeletal
- GI
- Vascular
Name 2 Musculoskeletal causes of chest pain
- Costochodritis
- Rib fracture
Name a vascular cause of chest pain
Aortic dissection
Name a skin cause of chest pain
Shingles
Name 2 GI causes of chest pain
- Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease(GORD)
- Peptic ulcer disease
Name a respiratory cause of chest pain
Pneumonia
What determines the features of the chest pain?
The type of nerve ie visceral or somatic the signals are being sent through to reach the spinal cord and the brain
Give 3 cardiac causes of chest pain and state the type of pain that it causes and the innervation
- Pericarditis - pleuritic pain because pain signals pass from the pericardium through somatic afferent nerves to the brain and spinal cord
- Stable angina - visceral pain because the pain signals pass from the cardiac muscle through visceral afferent nerves to reach the brain and spinal cord
- Acute coronary syndromes - visceral pain because the pain signals pass from the cardiac muscle through visceral afferent nerves to reach the brain and spinal cord
What kind of pain do you get from the heart muscle due to ischaemic or infarct reason? Why do you get this pain?
- Visceral pain
- Because pain signals from the heart are transferred through visceral afferent nerve to the brain and spinal cord
What kind of pain do you get from lungs, pleura, pericardial sac or MSK features of the chest wall?
- Somatic pain
- Because pain signals from these places are transferred through somatic afferent nerves to the brain and spinal chord
Describe the features of cardiac (ischaemic) chest pain (4)
- Dull, felt centrally (centre of chest)
- Poorly localised
- Pain can be referred (perceived to come from another location e.g. shoulder)
- Worsened with exercise/exertion
Describe the features of pleuritic chest pain (5)
- Sharp
- Well localised
- No radiation
- Worsened with position ie pericarditis
- Worsened with inspiration and coughing (ie Respiratory or MSK cause)
Why can cardiac chest pain be referred to other parts of the body? (4)
- Visceral afferents send signals towards spinal cord and enter at segments T1-T4/T5
- Sensory/somatic afferents from T1-T4/5 dermatomes enter at same level
- Brain interprets signals as arising from skin instead of from the heart, confusingly
- So patient describes feeling the pain in T1-T4/5 dermatomes, which correspond to the front of your chest and a little bit down your arm
Pericardium innervation vs cardiac muscle innervation
- Pericardium - innervated by somatic afferents that run in peripheral nerves
- Cardiac muscle - innervated by visceral afferents that run in sympathetic nerves
What is pericarditis?
Inflammation of the pericardial sac
What is the typical presentation history for pericarditis? (3)
- Usually more common in males than females
- Usually due to Infection - typically viral cause
- May have a prior history of viral infection leading up to development of symptoms
Which nerve innervates the pericardium?
Phrenic nerve
Describe the pain presentation of acute pericarditis (6)
- Pleuritic/somatic pain
- Sharp
- Well localised
- Sitting forward or up relieves pain
- Lying down flat makes it worse
- Coughing makes it worse
Describe the signs and symptoms of acute pericarditis (8)
- May be normal
- Tachycardia
- Pounding or racing heartbeat (heart palpitations)
- Pericardial rub on auscultation (scratchy noise)
- Fatigue or general feeling of weakness or being sick
- Low-grade fever
- Cough
- Shortness of breath when lying down
Name some further investigations that you might do with a patient with suspected pericarditis and describe what you may find in someone with pericarditis (4)
- ECG - widespread saddle-shaped ST elevation in all leads.
- Series of blood tests - inflammatory markers may be elevated ie CRP
Other investigations to rule out other causes of chest pain :
- chest x-ray
- echocardiogram
Compare Pericarditis ST elevation to MI ST elevation
Pericarditis:
- Widespread
- Saddle-shaped
MI:
- Only in the leads looking at the bit of the heart that is affected
- Non-saddle-shaped
Name 4 acute coronary syndromes
Name something that is not
- Unstable angina
- Myocardial infarction:
- Non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI)
- ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)
NOT STABLE ANGINA
Describe the risk factors for coronary atheroma (10)
Risk factors:
- Hypertension
- Hyperlipidaemia
- Smoking
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Gender (male)
- Advancing age
- Family history
- Ethnicity
What are acute coronary syndromes? (5)
- A spectrum of acute myocardial ischaemic events,
- caused by atheromatous plaque rupture with thrombus formation
- causing acute increased occlusion in an already partially occluded coronary artery lumen
- Leading to ischaemia and potentially infarction (mocardial tissue necrosis)
- Causes chest pain
What causes acute coronary syndromes?
- Atheromatous plaque rupture with thrombus formation