Angina Pectoris in Emergency Medicine Clinical Presentation

  • Author: Marc D Haber, MD; Chief Editor: Barry E Brenner, MD, PhD, FACEP   more...
 
Updated: Nov 23, 2010
 

History

Classically, angina presents as substernal chest discomfort that occurs with exertion, but it also may occur at rest. The discomfort is frequently described as a pressure or heaviness. Other commonly used adjectives for anginal pain include dull, aching, or squeezing. Pain may radiate to one or both arms, to one or both shoulders, or to the neck or jaw. Symptoms are highly variable. The entity cannot be expected to present with the classic triad of chest pressure with exertion radiating to the left arm. The diversity of disease expression is likely related to a patient's age, sex, race, and culture.

The caveat is to have a high index of suspicion for the disease. Many factors influence the expression of anginal symptoms. Familiar terms such as anginal equivalent and atypical chest pain are frequently used in these cases. In addition, systemic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus or chronic pain syndromes, may alter presenting anginal symptoms; while other diseases, such as prior cerebral vascular accident or dementia, may limit the patient's reporting of symptoms. A pain-free variant of angina—sometimes referred to as silent chest pain—also exists. These patients can present with complaints of shortness of breath, nausea, altered mentation, or abdominal pain.[9]

  • Chest discomfort quality
    • Pain
    • Pressure
    • Squeezing
    • Dullness
    • Burning
    • Heaviness
    • Absent chest discomfort (eg, dyspnea, vomiting, altered sensorium)
  • Location (often diffuse to any location of C7-T4 dermatomes)
    • Retrosternal or substernal
    • Inframammary
    • Left sided
    • Right sided
    • Upper abdominal
    • Shoulder, neck, arm
    • Teeth, jaw, lower face (above C7 unclear etiology)
    • Back, scapular region
  • Radiation
    • Unilateral or bilateral arms
    • Unilateral or bilateral shoulders
    • Back
    • Neck
    • Jaw, ear, or lower face
  • Temporal
    • Onset to maximum discomfort is progressive.
      • With exertion (with or without increasing frequency)
      • At rest
    • Alleviation to relief is progressive.
    • Alleviation mediators
      • Oxygen
      • Nitroglycerin
      • Reduction of stressful activity
      • Pain medication
      • Placebo effect (eg, "GI cocktail")
  • Severity
    • Mild to severe (1/10 to >10/10)
    • "Like my heart pain" - Patients in the emergency department (ED) may refer to the pain as being consistent with prior heart pains.
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Physical

The physical examination may reveal signs of a hyperadrenergic state. One might observe tachycardia, tachypnea, hypertension, and/or diaphoresis. In addition, ischemia may lead to the presence of crackles due to the loss in contractility with subsequent pulmonary edema or a reduction in the S1 intensity.[10]

That said, no definitive examination findings suggest angina. Much of the information obtained from the physical examination may suggest other comorbidities that place the patient at higher risk for anginal symptoms (eg, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD], tachycardia, pale conjunctiva). Therefore, the physical examination is necessary to qualify the patient's current physical state and comorbidities. In this manner, the emergency physician obtains a baseline physical examination. Also, as mentioned, comorbid illnesses that affect the patient's level of cardiac, pulmonary, and circulatory function can be assessed.

As with many presentations to the emergency department, the physical examination in angina pectoris also serves as a marker for response to therapy. Important comorbidities that can be identified on physical examination include aortic stenosis, gastrointestinal bleeding, and airway obstruction. Unfortunately, no examination findings are pathognomonic for angina pectoris. In addition, no physical examination findings rule out the disease state.

Of note, while the reproducibility of chest wall pain with palpation may lower the likelihood of angina, this alone cannot rule out angina or myocardial infarction.[11, 12]

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Causes

See Pathophysiology.

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Contributor Information and Disclosures
Author

Marc D Haber, MD  Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Baystate Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine; President of Young Physician Section, AAEM

Marc D Haber, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Thomas A Brunell, MD, MA, FACEP, FAAEM  Director, Emergency Medicine Education, St Francis Hospital and Medical Center; Assistant Professor of Traumatology and Emergency Medicine, University of Connecticut Medical Center

Thomas A Brunell, MD, MA, FACEP, FAAEM is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians, Massachusetts Medical Society, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Jerry Balentine, DO  Professor of Emergency Medicine, New York College of Osteopathic Medicine; Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, Attending Physician in Department of Emergency Medicine, St Barnabas Hospital

Jerry Balentine, DO is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, American College of Physician Executives, American Osteopathic Association, and New York Academy of Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD  Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy; Editor-in-Chief, Medscape Drug Reference

Disclosure: Medscape Salary Employment

Jeffrey L Arnold, MD, FACEP  Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center

Jeffrey L Arnold, MD, FACEP is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine and American College of Physicians

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

John D Halamka, MD, MS  Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Chief Information Officer, CareGroup Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School; Attending Physician, Division of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

John D Halamka, MD, MS is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Informatics Association, Phi Beta Kappa, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Barry E Brenner, MD, PhD, FACEP  Professor of Emergency Medicine, Professor of Internal Medicine, Program Director, Emergency Medicine, Case Medical Center, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Barry E Brenner, MD, PhD, FACEP is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Physicians, American Heart Association, American Thoracic Society, Arkansas Medical Society, New York Academy of Medicine, New York Academy of Sciences, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

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