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Cardiac Ultrasound in Patients with Chest Pain

  • Acute Coronary Syndrome (J. Hollander, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Emergency and Hospital Medicine Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Chest pain is a frequent presenting complaint with a broad differential diagnosis. Emergency physicians routinely train in point-of-care cardiac ultrasound, which has the ability to rapidly and noninvasively assist in the diagnosis of many life-threatening causes of chest pain including acute coronary syndrome, cardiac tamponade, pulmonary embolism, and aortic dissection. In addition, the physician may quickly utilize other bedside ultrasound modalities, such as lung and musculoskeletal ultrasound, to diagnose pneumothorax, pneumonia, rib or sternal fractures, or soft tissue abnormalities. The article reviews the current literature and discusses the utility and performance of ultrasound in patients presenting with chest pain to the emergency department.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Thompson 239, 1020 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA

    J. Matthew Fields

  2. Emergency Medicine Residency Program, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Lira 63, Santiago, Chile

    Pablo Aguilera

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  1. J. Matthew Fields
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  2. Pablo Aguilera
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Correspondence to J. Matthew Fields.

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This article is part of the Topical collection on Acute Coronary Syndrome.

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Fields, J.M., Aguilera, P. Cardiac Ultrasound in Patients with Chest Pain. Curr Emerg Hosp Med Rep 3, 16–22 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40138-014-0063-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40138-014-0063-5

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