Anterior chest pain: musculoskeletal considerations

The clinical symptom of anterior chest pain generally elicits a long list of diagnoses. When cardiac and pleural conditions are excluded, conditions that affect the musculoskeletal system become important considerations. Many of these conditions have characteristic imaging features that allow accurate diagnosis. In others, the imaging findings can be instrumental in directing the appropriate course of action. This article reviews the imaging features of a number of musculoskeletal entities that present with anterior chest pain including traumatic, rheumatologic, inflammatory, infectious, and neoplastic conditions.