Women and non-cardiac chest pain: gender differences in symptom presentation

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Sex and Racial Disparities in Chest Pain Presentation and Management Through the Emergency Department

Background

Sex and racial disparities in the presentation and management of chest pain persist, however, the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on these disparities have not been studied. We sought to determine whether the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to pre-existing sex and racial disparities in the presentation, management, and outcomes of patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain.

Methods

We conducted an observational cohort study with retrospective data collection of patients between January 1, 2016, and May 1, 2022. This was a single study conducted at a quaternary academic medical center of all patients who presented to the ED with a complaint of chest pain or chest pain equivalent symptoms. Patient were further segregated into different groups based on sex (male, female), race, ethnicity (Asian, Black, Hispanic, White, and other), and age (18 - 40, 41 - 65, > 65). We compared diagnostic evaluations, treatment decisions, and outcomes during prespecified time points before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

This study included 95,764 chest pain encounters. Total chest pain presentations to the ED fell about 38% during the early pandemic months. Females presented significantly less than males during initial COVID-19 (48% vs. 52%, P < 0.001) and Asian females were least likely to present. There was an increase in the total number of troponins and echocardiograms ordered during peak COVID-19 across both sexes, but females were still less likely to have these tests ordered across all timepoints. The number of coronary angiograms did not increase during peak COVID-19, and females were less likely to undergo coronary angiogram during all timepoints. Finally, females with chest pain were less likely to be diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) during all timepoints, while in-hospital deaths were similar between males and females during all timepoints.

Conclusions

During COVID-19, females, especially Asian females, were less likely to present to the ED for chest pain. Non-White patients were less likely to present to the ED compared to White patients prior to and during the pandemic. Disparities in management and outcomes of chest pain encounters remained similar to pre-COVID-19, with females receiving less cardiac workup and AMI diagnoses than males, but in-hospital mortality remaining similar between groups and timepoints.

Is Noncardiac Chest Pain Truly Noncardiac?

Many causes of noncardiac chest pain (NCCP) have been studied and gastroesophageal reflux disease is considered to be the major cause. However, studies have reported that treatment with a proton pump inhibitor does not effectively provide relief for NCCP-related symptoms, and these symptoms frequently recur. These findings suggest that patients with cardiac disease may be excluded completely from the NCCP group. Several examinations can be conducted to verify the presence of cardiac disease. Such examinations include the assessment of biochemical markers, rest and exercise electrocardiogram, echocardiography, cardiac computed tomography, stress myocardial perfusion imaging, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, and coronary angiography (CAG). However, the presence of functional coronary artery diseases (CADs), such as vasospastic angina and/or microvascular angina, cannot be detected using these modalities. These functional CADs can be diagnosed by CAG with spasm-provocation testing and/or physiological coronary measurement. Thus, when a patient who is suspected of having NCCP takes a proton pump inhibitor and does not respond well, further examination-including assessment for possible functional CADs-may be needed.

Chest Pain: If It Is Not the Heart, What Is It?

Noncardiac chest pain is an angina-type discomfort without indication of ischemia. Diagnosis can be difficult because of its heterogeneous nature. Classification varies by specialty; gastroenterology uses the terminology gastroesophageal reflux disease related versus non-gastroesophageal reflux disease related. Other disciplines recognize noncardiac chest pain etiologies as having gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, psychiatric, or pulmonary/other as underlying etiologies. Diagnostics yield a specific cause for effective treatment, which is aimed at the underlying etiology, but it is not always possible. Some patients with noncardiac chest pain have comorbidities and ongoing pain that lead to decreased quality of life and continued health care use.

Panic disorder and cardiovascular diseases: an overview

The association between panic disorder (PD) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) has been extensively studied in recent years and, although some studies have shown anxiety disorders co-existing or increasing the risk of heart disease, no causal hypothesis has been well established. Thus, a critical review was performed of the studies that evaluated the association between PD and cardiovascular diseases; synthesizing the evidence on the mechanisms mediators that theoretically would be the responsible for the causal pathway between PD and CVD, specifically. This overview shows epidemiological studies, and discusses biological mechanisms that could link PD to CVD, such as pleiotropy, heart rate variability, unhealthy lifestyle, atherosclerosis, mental stress, and myocardial perfusion defects. This study tried to provide a comprehensive narrative synthesis of previously published information regarding PD and CVD and open new possibilities of clinical management and pathophysiological understanding. Some epidemiological studies have indicated that PD could be a risk factor for CVD, raising morbidity and mortality in PD, suggesting an association between them. These studies argue that PD pathophysiology could cause or potentiate CVD. However, there is no evidence in favour of a causal relationship between PD and CVD. Therefore, PD patients with suspicions of cardiovascular symptoms need redoubled attention.

Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Diseases and Treatment Status in Noncardiac Chest Pain Patients

Background and Objectives

We evaluated the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux diseases (GERD) in noncardiac chest pain (NCCP) patients, risk factors for GERD, and status of prescriptions for GERD in Korean population.

Subjects and Methods

This was a retrospective non-interventional observational nation-wide 45-center study. Patients with a normal coronary angiogram (CAG) and upper gastroendoscopy within 2 years after CAG were enrolled. The prevalence of GERD was examined. Other gastrointestinal diseases including peptic ulcer diseases or gastritis were also examined. Risk factors for GERD were compared between the GERD group and non-GERD group. The ratio of patients medicated for gastrointestinal diseases (antacids or proton-pump inhibitor) was also examined.

Results

Nine hundred four patients were enrolled. Among the NCCP patients, GERD was present in 436 (48.2%), peptic ulcer disease in 154 patients (17.0%), and gastritis in 659 (72.9%). There was no difference in risk factors for GERD between the GERD and non-GERD patients. Medications for GERD and other gastrointestinal diseases were prescribed in 742 (82.1%) patients.

Conclusion

GERD was common (42.8%) in Korean NCCP patients and most (82.1%) received the prescription of gastrointestinal medications. No differences were evident in risk factors between GERD and non-GERD patients.

Panic disorder and incident coronary heart disease: a systematic review and meta-regression in 1131612 persons and 58111 cardiac events

BACKGROUND

Substantial healthcare resources are devoted to panic disorder (PD) and coronary heart disease (CHD); however, the association between these conditions remains controversial. Our objective was to conduct a systematic review of studies assessing the association between PD, related syndromes, and incident CHD.

METHOD

Relevant studies were retrieved from Medline, EMBASE, SCOPUS and PsycINFO without restrictions from inception to January 2015 supplemented with hand-searching. We included studies that reported hazard ratios (HR) or sufficient data to calculate the risk ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) which were pooled using a random-effects model. Studies utilizing self-reported CHD were ineligible. Twelve studies were included comprising 1 131 612 persons and 58 111 incident CHD cases.

RESULTS

PD was associated with the primary incident CHD endpoint [adjusted HR (aHR) 1.47, 95% CI 1.24-1.74, p < 0.00001] even after excluding angina (aHR 1.49, 95% CI 1.22-1.81, p < 0.00001). High to moderate quality evidence suggested an association with incident major adverse cardiac events (MACE; aHR 1.40, 95% CI 1.16-1.69, p = 0.0004) and myocardial infarction (aHR 1.36, 95% CI 1.12-1.66, p = 0.002). The risk for CHD was significant after excluding depression (aHR 1.64, 95% CI 1.45-1.85) and after depression adjustment (aHR 1.38, 95% CI 1.03-1.87). Age, sex, length of follow-up, socioeconomic status and diabetes were sources of heterogeneity in the primary endpoint.

CONCLUSIONS

Meta-analysis showed that PD was independently associated with incident CHD, myocardial infarction and MACE; however, reverse causality cannot be ruled out and there was evidence of heterogeneity.

Single-centre cohort study of gender influence in coronary CT angiography in patients with a low to intermediate pretest probability of coronary heart disease

Background

In ‘real-world’ patient populations undergoing coronary CT angiography (CCTA), it is unclear whether a correlation exists between gender, coronary artery calcium (CAC) score and subsequent referral for invasive coronary angiography and coronary revascularisation. We therefore investigated the relationship between gender, CAC and use of subsequent invasive coronary angiography and coronary revascularisation in a cohort of patients with chest discomfort and low to intermediate pretest probability of coronary artery disease who underwent a CCTA at our diagnostic centre.

Methods

This is a cohort study that included patients examined between 2010 and 2013. Data were obtained from the Western Denmark Heart Registry. The follow-up ended 11 March 2014.

Results

A total of 3541 people (1621 men and 1920 women) were examined by CCTA. The rate of invasive coronary angiography during follow-up was 28.5% in men versus 18.3% in women (p<0.001). The rate of coronary revascularisation during follow-up was 11.4% in men versus 5.1% in women (p<0.001). The CAC-adjusted HR in women versus men was 0.98 (95% CI 0.85 to 1.13) for invasive coronary angiography and 0.73 (95% CI 0.57 to 0.93) for coronary revascularisation. Further adjustment for age and other risk factors did not change these estimates.

Conclusions

Women had a lower CAC score than men and a corresponding lower rate of invasive coronary angiography. The risk of coronary revascularisation was modestly reduced in women, irrespective of CAC. This may reflect a gender-specific difference in coping with chest discomfort, gender-specific referral bias for CCTA, and/or a gender-specific difference in the balance between coronary calcification and obstructive coronary heart disease.

Comparison of Temperamental Features, Anxiety, and Depression Levels Between Non-Cardiac Angina and Acute Coronary Syndrome

INTRODUCTION

In many studies that are aimed to determine the psychological profile of patients admitted to the emergency unit with non-cardiac angina (NCA), it was indicated that psychiatric problems, less effective problem-solving, and alexithymia are more common in NCA compared with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. In this study, aiming to find predictive psychological clinical features, we compared the temperament, anxiety, and depression scores of patients with NCA and ACS.

METHODS

Sociodemographic variables of 63 patients (n=41 NCA, n=22 ACS) who were admitted to the emergency unit with chest pain were recorded. TEMPS-A scale was used for defining temperamental features, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to measure anxiety and depression levels of patients in both groups. Sociodemographic variables and TEMPS-A and HADS scores were compared with χ² and independent-groups t-test between the NCA and ACS groups.

RESULTS

The NCA and ACS groups were similar in terms of sociodemographic variables. There was no statistical difference between groups in HDS (p=.12) and HAS (p=.39) scores and TEMPS-A scale depressive (p=.41), cyclothymic (p=.08), hyperthymic (p=.06), and anxious (p=.29) temperament scores. But, irritable temperament scores were significantly higher in the NCS group (p=.04).

CONCLUSION

We believe that our findings will provide a basis for further studies in the diagnosis and treatment of NCA by contributing to the definition of NCA patients' psychological profiles.

Gender bias revisited: new insights on the differential management of chest pain

Background

Chest pain is a common complaint and reason for consultation in primary care. Few data exist from a primary care setting whether male patients are treated differently than female patients. We examined whether there are gender differences in general physicians' (GPs) initial assessment and subsequent management of patients with chest pain, and how these differences can be explained

Methods

We conducted a prospective study with 1212 consecutive chest pain patients. The study was conducted in 74 primary care offices in Germany from October 2005 to July 2006. After a follow up period of 6 months, an independent interdisciplinary reference panel reviewed clinical data of every patient and decided about the etiology of chest pain at the time of patient recruitment (delayed type-reference standard). We adjusted gender differences of six process indicators for different models.

Results

GPs tended to assume that CHD is the cause of chest pain more often in male patients and referred more men for an exercise test (women 4.1%, men 7.3%, p = 0.02) and to the hospital (women 2.9%, men 6.6%, p < 0.01). These differences remained when adjusting for age and cardiac risk factors but ceased to exist after adjusting for the typicality of chest pain.

Conclusions

While observed gender differences can not be explained by differences in age, CHD prevalence, and underlying risk factors, the less typical symptom presentation in women might be an underlying factor. However this does not seem to result in suboptimal management in women but rather in overuse of services for men. We consider our conclusions rather hypothesis generating and larger studies will be necessary to prove our proposed model.

Biopsychosocial assessment criteria for functional chronic visceral pain: a pilot review of concept and practice

Functional chronic visceral pain (FCVP) is one of the most common causes of morbidity in the general population. Pain perceived within the abdomen may occur due to a range of different mechanisms according to the organ and their afferent pathways. Advances in our understanding of the complexities of FCVP could lead to the exploitation of contemporary research in order to develop and utilize our understanding of neurobiological and psychobiological visceral mechanisms in a clinical setting. This progression, together with increasing amounts of epidemiological and gender based information concerning specific abdominal pain syndromes can allow us to develop assessment tools that go beyond disease only analysis and move toward a more comprehensive assessment model so that patients may have access to expert or multidisciplinary management sooner, rather than later. Based on current evidence, one must consider the main contributors to pain, whether it is nociceptive, neuropathic or psychosocial or as is common with FCVP, a combination of all three.

AIM

This comprehensive assessment model should encompass not only systematic evaluation for reliable communication, but should also progress toward idiographic diagnosis relating to the uniqueness of the patient. This model should be practical in a multidisciplinary setting, taking into account the multi-faceted nature of this presentation.