Chest Pain ; etiology ; Coronary Vessel Anomalies ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Cardiovascular and noncardiovascular conditions are commonly encountered in the emergency department. While the majority of patients have underlying cardiovascular aetiologies, such as acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, aortic dissection and pulmonary embolism, a small subset of patients have underlying noncardiovascular conditions, although they present with similar symptoms of chest pain, dyspnoea, cough, haemoptysis and haematemesis. This article aims to describe the imaging findings in common noncardiovascular conditions of the chest that are frequently encountered in the emergency department, with a review of the existing literature.
Chest Pain ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Diagnostic Imaging ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Myocardial Infarction ; complications ; diagnosis ; Pulmonary Embolism ; complications ; diagnosis

The influence of low tube voltage in dual source CT (DSCT) coronary artery imaging on image quality and radiation dose and its application value in clinical practice were investigated. Totally, 300 cases of chest pain with low body mass index (BMI <18.5 kg/m(2)) subjected to DSCT coronary artery imaging were prospectively enrolled. The heart rate in all patients were greater than 65/min. The retrospective ECG gated scanning mode and simple random sampling method were used to assign the patients into groups A, B and C (n=100 each). The patients in groups A, B and C experienced 120-, 100-, and 80-kV tube voltage imaging respectively, and the image quality was evaluated. The CT volume dose index (CTDIvol) and dose length product (DLP) were recorded, and the effective dose (ED) was calculated in each group. The image quality scores and radiation doses in groups were compared, and the influence of tube voltage on image quality and radiation dose was analyzed. The results showed that the excellent rate of image quality in groups A, B and C was 95.69%, 94.72% and 96.33% respectively with the difference being not statistically significant among the three groups (P>0.05). The CTDIvol values in groups A, B and C were 51.35±12.21, 21.28±7.13 and 6.34±3.34 mGy, respectively, with the difference being statistically significant (P<0.05). The ED values in groups A, B and C were 9.27±1.63, 4.56±2.29 and 2.29±1.69 mSv, respectively, with the difference being statistically significant (P<0.05). It was suggested that for the patients with low BMI, the application of DSCT coronary artery imaging with low tube voltage can obtain satisfactory image quality, and simultaneously, significantly reduce the radiation dose.
Adult ; Aged ; Body Mass Index ; Chest Pain ; diagnostic imaging ; Coronary Angiography ; methods ; Coronary Vessels ; diagnostic imaging ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods

BACKGROUNDPrevious studies have compared single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) in detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with myocardial infarction (MI). The purpose of this study was to compare SPECT with EBCT in detection of CAD in patients with no MI.

METHODSOne hundred and forty-seven patients with suspected CAD underwent stress-rest (99)mTc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile ((99)mTc-MIBI) myocardial SPECT, cardiac EBCT and coronary angiography (CAG) within one month. Of them, 73 patients (aged 52.6 +/- 10.6 years old) with no history of MI were included in this study. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) was defined as a CT value >or= 130 HU within the boundary of coronary artery on EBCT.

RESULTSThere were 35 and 38 patients with or without CAD according to CAG. Ninety-six percent of the patients with abnormal SPECT and CAC had a coronary arteries stenosis >or= 50%, and 90.9% patients with normal SPECT and EBCT showed no CAD. The sensitivity of SPECT and EBCT in detection of CAD was comparable, and the specificity of SPECT (92.1%) was significantly higher than that of EBCT (55.3%) (P < 0.005). For the detection of individual coronary artery stenosis, both sensitivity and specificity of SPECT (75.0% and 93.7%) were significantly higher than those of EBCT (53.3% and 76.7%) (P < 0.025 and P < 0.005, respectively). In patients without chest pain, the sensitivity and specificity of SPECT (76.9% and 91.4%) were significantly higher than those of EBCT (23.1% and 69.0%) in detection of a coronary artery stenosis of >or= 50% (P < 0.01 and P < 0.005, respectively). However, in patients with chest pain, both sensitivity and specificity of SPECT were comparable to those of EBCT. In patients or= 50% (P < 0.005), and the specificity of SPECT was comparable to that of EBCT. In patients > 45 years old, the specificity of SPECT (94.3%) was significantly higher than that of EBCT (70.5%) (P < 0.005), and the sensitivity of SPECT was comparable to that of EBCT.

CONCLUSION(99)mTc-MIBI myocardial perfusion SPECT has higher accuracy than that of EBCT in detection of CAD in patients without MI.

Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Calcium ; blood ; Chest Pain ; diagnostic imaging ; Coronary Disease ; diagnostic imaging ; Coronary Vessels ; chemistry ; Heart ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) in adolescents and identify risk factors for the recurrence of PSP. METHODS: A total of 292 patients diagnosed with PSP from January 1998 to December 2011 were retrospectively studied. Clinical data on demographics, diagnostic imaging, therapies, and risk factors of recurrence were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: The sex ratio of 292 patients was 19.8:1 (male:female), and the average age of the patients was 17.0 years. The average body mass index of the patients was 18.8 kg/m2. The most common presenting symptom was chest pain. There was no seasonal variation in the incidence of PSP. Thirty patients (10.2%) had a history of smoking. The most common location of PSP was the left side. Out of 249 patients, 169 (67.9%) had cysts (blebs/bullae). Fifty-four patients (18.5%) received oxygen therapy, 3 patients (1%) needle aspiration, 119 patients (40.8%) closed tube drainage, and 116 patients (39.7%) surgery. The recurrence rate was 38.6%. Smoking was associated with the size of pneumothorax (P=0.002). Also, the size of pneumothorax and surgery was associated with recurrence (P=0.040 and P=0.004). However, previously reported risk factors for recurrence were not identified in our patients. CONCLUSION: Pediatric PSP occurred mainly in males in late adolescence with normal body mass index. No significant risk factors were related to recurrence of PSP in our study.
Adolescent* ; Body Mass Index ; Chest Pain ; Demography ; Diagnostic Imaging ; Drainage ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Needles ; Oxygen ; Pneumothorax* ; Recurrence* ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Seasons ; Sex Ratio ; Smoke ; Smoking

OBJECTIVETo compare the prior coronary angiography (CAG) psychological status in chest pain patients with and without coronary artery disease (CAD).

METHODSNinety-nine patients with chest pain and scheduled for CAG were selected by cluster sampling method. The mental status was measured by Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 (HAMD-17) 24 hours before CAG, and the risk factors for CAD were also determined.

RESULTSThere were 43 patients with HAMA score > or = 14, 18 patients with HAMD-17 score > or = 14 and 16 patients with both scores > or = 14. CAD was diagnosed in 46 patients by CAG. HAMA score was significantly higher in patients without CAD than patients with CAD (14.1 +/- 7.1 vs. 11.1 +/- 6.7, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSIncidences of anxiety and depression were high in chest pain patients prior CAG and incidence of anxiety prior CAG was significantly higher in chest pain patients without CAD compared to chest pain patients with CAD.

Adult ; Aged ; Chest Pain ; diagnostic imaging ; psychology ; Coronary Angiography ; psychology ; Coronary Artery Disease ; psychology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Depressive Disorder ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Stress, Psychological

BACKGROUNDMuscle fibers overlying the intramyocardial segment of an epicardial coronary artery are termed myocardial bridging (MB). Variable prevalence of MB has been described at autopsy and angiographic series with small and large sample size studies. In addition, no similar study was reported in Chinese population. The aim of this study was to investigate the angiographic prevalence of MB in consecutive 37,106 Chinese patients with chest pain from our center.

METHODSWe conducted an observational study to evaluate the consecutive cases with MB among patients undergone selective coronary angiography, and analyzed the angiograhic prevalence and clinical features of MB in this study of very large sample size.

RESULTSAmong 37 105 patients with chest pain we found 1002 cases with 1011 MBs in a retrospective manner, and the overall prevalence was 2.70%. Although more than 99% (991/1002) of patients had single bridge, 8 cases were found to have more than two MBs (seven with two, and one with three). Altogether 54.39% of cases (545/1002) had MB without atherosclerotic lesions, and 96.24% (973/1011) of bridging located in the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD), mainly in the middle of LAD (792/1011, 78.33%). According to Nobel classification, of the single bridge (n=991), <50% of obstruction was predominant (471/991, 47.52%). Totally 50%-69% accounted for 34.81% (345/991), >70% of obstruction was 17.65% (175/991).

CONCLUSIONSThese data showed that the prevalence of angiographically detectable MB in Chinese patients with chest pain was similar to those of the previous studies, with 2.7% prevalence in this very large sample size.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Chest Pain ; diagnostic imaging ; Coronary Angiography ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Bridging ; epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: Acute heart failure negatively affects short-term outcomes of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Therefore, reliable and non-invasive assessment of pulmonary congestion is needed to select patients requiring more intensive monitoring and therapy. Since plasma levels of natriuretic peptides are influenced by myocardial ischemia, they might not reliably reflect congestion in the context of ACS. The novel endothelial biomarker, soluble CD146 (sCD146), presents discriminative power for detecting the cardiac origin of acute dyspnea similar to that of natriuretic peptides and is associated with systemic congestion. We evaluated the performance of sCD146 for the assessment of pulmonary congestion in the early phase of ACS. METHODS: One thousand twenty-one consecutive patients with ACS were prospectively enrolled. Plasma levels of sCD146, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), and high-sensitive troponin T were measured within 24 hr after the onset of chest pain. Pulmonary congestion on chest radiography was determined and classified in three groups according to the degree of congestion. RESULTS: Nine hundred twenty-seven patients with ACS were analyzed. Ninety-two (10%) patients showed signs of pulmonary edema on chest radiography. Plasma levels of sCD146 reflected the radiological severity of pulmonary congestion. Higher plasma levels of sCD146 were associated with the worse degree of pulmonary congestion. In contrast to BNP, sCD146 levels were not affected by the level of troponin T. CONCLUSIONS: The novel endothelial biomarker, sCD146, correlates with radiological severity of pulmonary congestion in the early phase of ACS and, in contrast to BNP, is not affected by the amount of myocardial cell necrosis.
Acute Coronary Syndrome/*diagnosis/diagnostic imaging ; Aged ; Antigens, CD146/blood ; Biomarkers/blood ; Chest Pain/diagnostic imaging/*pathology ; Electrocardiography ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction/diagnosis ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain/*blood ; Severity of Illness Index ; Troponin T/blood

Adult ; Atherosclerosis ; diagnosis ; Chest Pain ; Coronary Aneurysm ; diagnosis ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Artery Disease ; diagnostic imaging ; Coronary Vessel Anomalies ; diagnosis ; Coronary Vessels ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Electrocardiography ; Humans ; Male ; Risk Factors ; Troponin I ; metabolism ; Vascular Diseases ; congenital ; diagnosis

A 56-year-old man presented to the Accident and Emergency Department with pleuritic chest pain of sudden onset. He gave a history of short-distance air travel ten days earlier. Chest radiograph showed a peripheral-based opacity in the right lower zone, which was not seen in a previous study done three months ago, suggestive of Hampton's hump. The D-dimer level was raised. Computed tomography pulmonary angiography confirmed the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism in a right lower lobe segmental branch, with adjacent collapsed lung, consistent with lung infarction. The patient was started on heparin injection with significant relief of his symptoms. The clinical and imaging features of pulmonary embolism are described, with emphasis on the historical radiographic signs and the current dual-energy computed tomography innovations.
Adult ; Aged ; Angiography ; Chest Pain ; Female ; Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products ; metabolism ; Humans ; Lung ; diagnostic imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Embolism ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed