The purpose of this article has been to review the multiple causes of chest pain. Because acute chest pain can be the only presenting symptom of a potentially life-threatening illness, it is important that the physician identify these patients rapidly and arrange appropriate hospital care. Likewise, it is also important that the physician recognize the less severe causes of chest pain so that the patient can be appropriately reassured in the office or sent for evaluation of the cause of this pain. Although nearly every patient with acute chest pain views this pain as an emergency, the majority of patients with this type of pain presenting to a physician's office can be evaluated and reassured using only basic office skills.
本文的目的是回顾胸痛的多种病因。由于急性胸痛可能是潜在危及生命疾病的唯一症状，医生迅速识别这些患者并安排适当的住院治疗非常重要。同样，医生认识到胸痛的不太严重的病因也很重要，以便在办公室让患者得到适当的安慰，或送去评估胸痛的原因。虽然几乎每个急性胸痛患者都将这种疼痛视为紧急情况，但大多数到医生办公室就诊的此类疼痛患者仅使用基本的办公室技能就可以进行评估并得到安慰。
