Thoracic pain: Clinical features

Thoracic pain represents one of the most challenging and life-threatening situations. Differentiating among cardiac and non-cardiac causes may be extremely helpful to identify emergency situations. Several risk scores may also help either to speed up the discharge process in patients without cardiac chest pain or to rule out non-coronary causes of chest pain. Several life-threatening scenarios, such as aortic dissection, may require attention for atypical chest pain and emergent surgical treatment. Clinicians should be always aware of the differential diagnosis of thoracic pain to avoid any possible mistake in the assessment of patients admitted for this condition.