Angina pectoris symptoms caused by thoracic spine disorders. Neuro-anatomical considerations

The pain conducting systems in the thorax will be described. The diagnosis angina pectoris is a symptom diagnosis. The common medical assumption is that these symptoms are caused by decreased circulation in the coronary vessels. The truth is that exactly the same symptoms can be the results of pathological changes in for example the oesophagus, the mediastinum and the thoracic spine. Our knowledge of referred pain and the pathways for pain conduction permits us nowadays to understand how pain symptoms can have different origins and still be experienced as identical.