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What Causes Tightness In The Chest And Shortness Of Breath?
Question: Yes my wife is experiencing tightness in chest so its hard for to breath freely,plus our big concerns are she is belching a bad sulfur smell every time she belches what could that be?
Brief Answer:
gastrointestinal or heart problems
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
let me start from the most serious ones. Chest tightness requires urgent investigation to exclude (or confirm!) heart disease. This is very important because heart disease may be fatal.
Other potential causes may include: stomach ulcer, various esophageal problems like functional esophageal disorders, esophageal diverticula and gastrointestinal obstruction. Bad smell may mean that the gastric contents are not moving towards the intestine like in pyloric stricture or ileus. Both are pretty serious conditions. Vomiting is common.
In any case she requires investigation particularly if she can't be relieved with nexium. In patients like her I usually order a basic biochemical panel (including liver function tests), a complete blood count, an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, an upper abdominal ultrasound scan and cardiological consultation (which should include an electrocardiogram and troponin assay). The cardiological consultation should come first because it's very important.
I hope you find my comments helpful!
Kind Regards!
gastrointestinal or heart problems
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
let me start from the most serious ones. Chest tightness requires urgent investigation to exclude (or confirm!) heart disease. This is very important because heart disease may be fatal.
Other potential causes may include: stomach ulcer, various esophageal problems like functional esophageal disorders, esophageal diverticula and gastrointestinal obstruction. Bad smell may mean that the gastric contents are not moving towards the intestine like in pyloric stricture or ileus. Both are pretty serious conditions. Vomiting is common.
In any case she requires investigation particularly if she can't be relieved with nexium. In patients like her I usually order a basic biochemical panel (including liver function tests), a complete blood count, an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, an upper abdominal ultrasound scan and cardiological consultation (which should include an electrocardiogram and troponin assay). The cardiological consultation should come first because it's very important.
I hope you find my comments helpful!
Kind Regards!
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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