Can chest pain have causes other than a heart attack?

Question

Hi doctor,

My mom had chest pain yesterday evening at 3 PM. It was mild pain on the left side. This morning, she also had mild pain three times. I contacted a cardiologist yesterday, and he asked me to perform an ECG test. After reviewing the ECG report, he said there was a slight issue with the ECG line. He then prescribed an Aspirin tablet and an injection. He also requested a few blood tests. After reviewing the blood test results, he confirmed that it was not a heart attack and prescribed Aspirin for seven days. She is still experiencing mild pain occasionally.

Please let me know if there is any reason to be concerned or if everything is normal.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern.

Good news, there is no heart attack; everything is normal. However, if there is recurrent chest pain, especially with exertion, or chest pain that relieves with rest and recurs with activities like walking or climbing stairs, it would be advisable to have an exercise tolerance test (ETT) done, to be on the safer side. In this test, your mom will be asked to walk on a graded ramp while an ECG (electrocardiogram) is performed. If there are no changes in the ECG, non-cardiac chest pain will be confirmed. The TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) and lipid profile results are normal as well (attachment removed to protect patient identity).

I hope this helps you.

Thank you.