Chest Pain Center - Brookline, MA
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Chest PainIntroductionChest pain is one of the most common complaints that will bring a patient to the Emergency Department. Seeking immediate care may be lifesaving, and considerable public education has been undertaken to get patients to access medical care when chest pain strikes. While the patient may be worried about a heart attack, there are many other causes of pain in the chest that the healthcare provider will need to consider. Some diagnoses are life threatening, while others are less dangerous. Deciding the cause of chest pain is sometimes very difficult and may require blood tests, x-rays, CT scans and other tests to sort out the diagnosis. Often though, a careful history taken by the healthcare provider may be all that is needed to find the answer.
What are the sources of chest pain?The source of pain may arise from a variety of potential sources:
While each source of chest pain may have a classic presentation of signs and symptoms, there is significant overlap among the symptoms of each condition, and the symptoms may also be affected by age, gender and race.
What are the causes of chest pain?Pain can be caused by almost every structure in the chest. Different organs can produce different types of pain but unfortunately the pain is not specific to each cause. Each of the following ca... Recommended Reading Related to Chest PainWhat is balloon angioplasty?Balloon angioplasty of the coronary artery, or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), was introduced in the late 1970's. PTCA is a non-surgical procedure that relieves narrowing and obstruction of the arteries to the muscle of the heart (coronary arteries). This allows more blood and oxygen to be delivered to the heart muscle. PTCA, is now referred to as percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI, as this term includes the use of balloons, stents, and atherectomy devices. Percutaneous coronary intervention is accomplished with a small balloon catheter inserted into an artery in the groin or arm, and advanced to the narrowing in the coronary artery. The balloon is then inflated to enlarge the narrowing in the artery. When successful, percutaneous coronary intervention can relieve chest pain of angina, improve the prognosis of individuals with unstable angina, and minimize or stop a heart attack without having the patien... Other Related Chest Pain ArticlesEmergency Contact for Brookline
Nearby Brookline Hospitals * Brigham & Women's Hospital  Dana Farber Cancer Institute  Children's Hospital Boston  Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center  New England Baptist Hospital  VA Boston Healthcare System Jamaica Plain Campus  Arbour HRI Hospital  Kindred Hospital Boston  Franciscan Hospital for Children  Arbour Hospital  Caritas St Elizabeth's Medical Center  Radius Specialty Hospital Boston  Boston Medical Center  M I T Medical  Faulkner Hospital  Cambridge Hospital  Lemuel Shattuck Hospital  Mount Auburn Hospital  Youville Hospital and Rehabilitation Center  Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged  Massachusetts Mental Health Center  Bournewood Hospital  Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary  Tufts New England Medical Center  Massachusetts General Hospital  Shriners Hospitals for Children Boston Burn Hospital  Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital  Somerville Hospital  Caritas Carney Hospital  VA Boston Healthcare System West Roxbury Campus  McLean Hospital  Lawrence Memorial Hospital  Milton Hospital  Lawrence F Quigley Memorial Hospital  Newton Wellesley Hospital  Whidden Memorial Hospital  Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital Needham  Quincy Medical Center  HEALTHSOUTH New England Rehabilitation Hospital  Winchester Hospital  Melrose Wakefield Hospital  Westwood Lodge Hospital  Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital  Caritas Norwood Hospital  Massachusetts Hospital School  Lahey Clinic Medical Center  Kindred Specialty Hospital Natick  MetroWest Medical Center Leonard Morse Hospital  Kindred Specialty Hospital Braintree  New England Sinai Hospital & Rehabilitation Center  North Shore Medical Center  Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital  South Shore Hospital  Emerson Hospital  MetroWest Medical Center Framingham Union Hospital  Salem Hospital & the Birthplace  Kindred Hospital Boston North Shore  North Shore Children's Hospital  Kindred Specialty Hospital Stoughton  Shaughnessy-Kaplan Rehabilitation Hospital  Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center  Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital  Boston VA Healthcare System Brockton  Tewksbury Hospital  Beverly Hospital  Isham Health Center  UMass Memorial Marlborough Hospital  Saints Medical Center  Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital Westborough  HC Solomon Mental Health Center  Lowell General Hospital  Pembroke Hospital  Westborough State Hospital  Milford Regional Medical Center  Lawrence General Hospital Featured Articles*Provider Directory Terms of Use: The WebMD 'Provider Directory' is provided by WebMD for use by the general public as a quick reference of information about Providers. The Provider Directory is not intended as a tool for verifying the credentials, qualifications, or abilities of any Provider contained therein. Inclusion in the Provider Directory does not imply recommendation or endorsement nor does omission in the Provider Directory imply WebMD disapproval. |
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