Chest pain: a clinical assessment.

Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. kbutler@smail.umaryland.edu

Chest pain is one of the most common presentations in emergency medicine. The initial evaluation should always consider life-threatening causes such as aortic dissection, pulmonary embolism, pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, pericarditis, and esophageal perforation. Radiographic imaging is performed in tandem with the initial clinical assessment and stabilization of the patient. Radiologic findings are key to diagnosis and management of this entity.

PMID: 16500201 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]