Causes of Chest Pain
Laura Flannery
Manuella Lahoud-Rahme
Effectiveness of Screening for Life-Threatening Chest Pain in Children
Saleeb SF, Li WY, Warren SZ, et al. Pediatrics. 2011;128(5):e1062–e1068
Background
Chest pain (CP) accounts for 5% of pediatric cardiology consultations, and nearly 20% of pediatric emergency department cardiology consults for previously unevaluated patients.1 This symptom triggers a great deal of anxiety and fear, both because CP often reveals a significant problem in adults and because of the rare instances of sudden cardiac death in young people. This leads to excessive referrals and costly evaluations for CP in the pediatric population.
Objectives
To determine the incidence of cardiac pathology and death from a cardiac condition in patients with CP.
Methods
Retrospective chart review in a single US center from 2000 to 2009.
Patients
3,700 patients ages 7 to 22 years seen in cardiology clinic for CP. Select exclusion criteria: known significant cardiovascular disease, previous cardiac evaluations for systemic illness or family history of cardiac disease, normal cardiac evaluation for CP at another institution.
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