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Association between subjective descriptors of coronary pain and disease characteristics: a pilot study in a Hellenic

Dimitrios Ch Tziallas1, Elizabeth D E Papathanassoglou, Catherine K Kastanioti

  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece. dtziallas@gmail.com

Intensive & Critical Care Nursing
|August 19, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Patient descriptions of cardiac chest pain, including specific words and locations, may indicate acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or unstable angina (UA). These subjective pain characteristics can correlate with underlying coronary artery disease severity and location.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Clinical Medicine
  • Medical Diagnostics

Background:

  • Understanding patient-reported symptoms is crucial for diagnosing acute coronary syndromes.
  • Verbal descriptions of chest pain can vary significantly among individuals.
  • Previous research has explored pain characteristics, but associations with specific diagnoses and lesion locations require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between Hellenic patients' verbal descriptions of cardiac chest pain and their diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) versus unstable angina (UA).
  • To explore the relationship between chest pain characteristics and the location of coronary artery lesions.

Main Methods:

  • A cross-sectional correlational study design was used.
  • Eighty consecutive coronary care patients (44 with AMI, 36 with UA) were recruited from northwestern Hellas.
  • Data collected included verbal descriptions of pain (nature, intensity, temporal quality, location, radiation), accompanying symptoms, and treatment-seeking behavior.

Main Results:

  • Pain intensity did not significantly differ between AMI and UA groups.
  • Specific descriptors like "knob," "constriction," and "drill" were more common in UA patients.
  • AMI patients, particularly women, used the word "pain" more often and reported pain at the left shoulder; they also used fewer descriptive words and less frequently reported pain at the back of the neck and left arm.
  • Associations were found between infarct location and pain location, as well as between pain locations and electrocardiogram (ECG) findings.

Conclusions:

  • Subjective descriptions of acute coronary pain and associated characteristics may be linked to the pathophysiological processes underlying coronary syndromes.
  • Specific verbal descriptors and pain locations could potentially aid in differentiating between AMI and UA.
  • Further research into the diagnostic value of patient-reported pain characteristics is warranted.
Abstract

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