Know How Our Cardiologist Helped Differentiate Anxiety Attack From a Heart Attack

A patient with ECG (electrocardiogram) reports stating sinus rhythm and normal axis asked our Cardiologist what that meant. He said that he went to urgent care with heart pain and shortness of breath and got his ECG taken but was told to follow up with a cardiologist. He was very worried as every doctor he had seen had different answers and had not answered his questions clearly, and wanted help from iCliniq's doctor. He also said that the symptoms worsened and had not gone away, so he wanted to know what caused his symptoms.

Our iCliniq doctor went through the query and said that sinus rhythm means your heart rhythm origin is normal and its impulse direction is in the normal axis, which is seen with normal people. He also mentioned that to rule out the cardiac cause, a 2D echocardiogram should be taken. If it comes back normal, the symptoms could be due to non-cardiac reasons, such as panic or anxiety attacks, thyroid dysfunction, or anemia.

The patient reverted after a few days, saying that he had been struggling with anxiety, but the symptoms were present even when he did not have an attack. He also said he was in a bike crash two months ago and was diagnosed with a concussion, chest wall irritation, and pneumonia. He was worried if this could be related to the symptoms and wanted our iCliniq doctor to help with his doubts and condition.

Our doctor went through the query and said that if he had not had a complete recovery after pneumonia, residual inflammation or lung damage would have caused shortness of breath and chest pain. He suggested TMT (treadmill test), 2D echocardiogram, chest X-ray, and PFT (pulmonary function test) to confirm the diagnosis as the ECG reports did not indicate any cardiac problem.

The patient reverted, saying that he had taken a chest X-ray at the time of the accident, and it was normal. He also asked how to differentiate between an anxiety attack and a heart attack.

The doctor asked the patient to consult a psychiatrist for panic and anxiety attacks. He explained that anxiety could occur even without exertion, but heart attack pain increases with exertion and gets relieved on rest. He mentioned that exercise could overcome anxiety, but cardiac causes have to be ruled out when chest pain increases on walking.

The patient got well informed with the doctor's explanation and thanked him. He said that he would follow all the instructions suggested by our Cardiologist and was extremely grateful for his timely help.