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What Causes Sharp Chest Pains And Shortness Of Breath?
Question: Hi,
I have been suffering from sharp chest pains, directly above the heart, for 4 days now. I am also experiencing shortness of breath. The pain initially started in my lower abdomen. The pain is not made worse/brought on by applying pressure anywhere on the left side of my chest. I went to a clinic, where I had a work-up of a chest X-ray, blood work, and an EKG. I was called in and told to go directly to the emergency room, as they were suspicious of a possible clot or an aortic dissection. The hospital performed the same tests mentioned previously, as well as a D-Dimer test and a lung scan. They did not look into my heart or aorta besides the EKG. I continue to have these pains, and am concerned about my CXR. The doctor had mentioned a few things that worried me... that my AP window (?) was not very pronounced, and that my pulmonary valve seemed enlarged. They sent me home and told me to wait and see, mentioning that it was probably chest wall pain (even though the pain is not worsened or brought on by pressure). My blood work and EKG were normal (though the first doctor I saw said that only a CT scan could rule out the aorta issue, hence my worry). I have a copy of my chest X-Ray I can show you.
Thank you,
Brief Answer:
To consider Gastroesophageal reflux
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Welcome to Healthcare-Magic
Greetings of the day
I do understand your concern and stress you would be going through.
Let me first reassure you after having a look at X ray. The X ray looks perfectly normal.
Aneurysm pain usually is experienced as the worst pain by the patient and is associated with changes in X ray and other ekg abnormality. In X ray I could not find any abnormality
1. Lung fields are clear
2. Cardiac shadow okay
3. Cardiothoracic ratio okay
3. Aortic knuckle okay
Only thing I could find out is left hemidiaphragm is almost at same level as that of right side ( ideally right side is higher). Also there is loaded colon below left hemidiaphragm.
Going by your symptoms one of the possibility I could think of is Gastroesophageal reflux. It can cause upper abdomen pain and also chest pain
As Ischemic heart disease has already been ruled out as the cause , possibility of Gastroesophageal reflux needs to be considered.
I hope it helped
In case you require any further assistance, will be glad to assist you.
Take care Best Regards
Dr T Shobha Deepak
MBBS, MD
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Shanthi.E
Answered by
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