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Unexplained chest pain

February 9, 2012 6:41 am

Not surprisingly -unexplained pediatric chest pain has a high association with anxiety/psychiatric disorders (J Pediatr 2012; 160: 320).  In this study, the authors compared patients (8-17 years) with chest pain (n=100) to a cohort referred with innocent heart murmur (n=80).  In addition to cardiology evaluation, patients had a structured interview and a child health questionnaire to assess for psychiatric disorders; also, the investigators interviewed the parent(s).

Based on DSM-IV criteria, 70% of chest pain patients had an anxiety disorder and 9% had depression.  In contrast, 33% of heart murmur patients had an anxiety disorder and none were depressed.  Among the chest pain subjects, 26% had abdominal pain and 26% had headaches -both higher than the control group, 9% and 10% respectively.  Also, 90% of patients with chest pain had psychiatric disorders which preceded the chest pain.

For pediatric gastroenterologists, a take home message from this article is that chest pain is quite similar to abdominal pain (see references below); it might be interesting to discuss with cardiologists.

• Do cardiologists experience the same reluctance from families to seek help from mental health?
• How much testing is required before a functional diagnosis is accepted?
• Do they follow patients with functional chest pain or send back promptly to primary care physician?

This article does not examine parental mental health issues.  This would be interesting.  In functional abdominal pain, maternal anxiety has been ascribed as the most consistent predictor of outcome (Acta Paediatr 2007; 96: 697-701).  Another factor that would be of interest would be level of activity; exercise helps reduce symptoms of irritable bowel/abdominal pain.

At the same time, the issue of reflux is not addressed by this article and not infrequently the issue of whether reflux is causing chest pain needs to be considered.  An article (Gut 2011; 60: 1473-78) regarding chest pain in adults indicates that patients with pH-probe (or endoscopic) proven GERD often respond partially (>50% reduction in symptoms) to PPI use.  This study reviewed RCTs involving chest pain and PPIs -six met inclusion criteria.  The RR of therapeutic gain for PPI usage was 4.3 for those with proven reflux and 0.4 for those with pH-probe (or endoscopic) negative chest pain.  Interestingly, in this study, heartburn was not predictive of whether chest pain was due to GERD on pH study.

Additional references:

• -Pediatr Emerg Care 2010; 26: 830-6.  Psychopathology among children presenting to ER with unexplained chest pain.
• -Clin Gastro 2008; 6: 329-32.  Depressive symptoms common in RAP -45%
• -Pediatrics 2004; 113: 817.  Anxiety & depression commonly associated with RAP.  anxiety in ~79%, depression ~43%; anxiety often precedes RAP.
• -JPGN 2011; 53: 200. n=98. 79% of FAP responded to low dose tricyclics
• -Gastroenterology 2009; 137: 1261, 1207– Editorial.  Amitriptyline helped in 66% vs 58% with placebo. n=90. dose 10mg <35kg, 20mg >35kg. 89% had failed Rx prior to study. ‘Inability to use placebo.. in practice may justify amitriptyline’ Rx. Consider hypnotherapy/CBT first.
• -Gut 2011; 60: 1473-78. PPI use in unexplained chest pain.
• -Pain 2006; 122: 43-52. (Walker LS et al), J Pain 2006; 7: 319-26.  Distraction/ignoring important.
• -J Pediatr 2009; 154: 313 (editorial), 322. Prospective school study. n=237. Weekly prevalence of abd pain was 38%. 18% with persistence for >12 weeks.
• -Clin Gastro Hepatol 2008; 6: 329-32.  FAP persists into adulthood in 1/3 to 1/2 of cases.
• -Gastroenterol 2006; 130: 1459-1465.  Functional esophageal d/o.
• -Clin Gastro & Hep 2006; 4: 558. Review.
• -Ann Heart J 2000; 40: 367-372.  Sertraline decreased chest pain independent of mood alteration/psychological scores.

Posted by gutsandgrowth

Categories: Pediatric Gastroenterology Intestinal Disorder, Pediatrics

Tags: abdominal pain, chest pain, functional abdominal pain, maternal anxiety, noncardiac chest pain, recurrent abdominal pain

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5 Responses to “Unexplained chest pain”

1. […] Unexplained chest pain | gutsandgrowth […]

   By Failure of PPI test | gutsandgrowth on December 14, 2012 at 6:56 am

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