How to differentiate between heartburn and angina pectoris in a patient with chest discomfort, considering their past medical history, age, and symptoms?

Differentiating Heartburn from Angina Pectoris

The key to distinguishing heartburn from angina lies in the pattern of symptom onset, relationship to exertion, duration, and associated features—with angina typically building gradually over minutes with exertion and resolving within 5-10 minutes at rest, while heartburn lacks exertional triggers and often relates to meals or position.

Critical Distinguishing Features

Angina Pectoris Characteristics

Location and Quality:

• Retrosternal chest discomfort described as pressure, tightness, heaviness, squeezing, constriction, or burning 1
• May radiate to left arm, neck, jaw, between shoulder blades, or to wrist and fingers 1
• Can present as epigastric discomfort, which overlaps with heartburn presentation 1, 2

Temporal Pattern:

• Builds gradually in intensity over several minutes (not sudden or instantaneous) 1
• Duration typically 2-10 minutes, rarely exceeding 10 minutes 1
• Fleeting pain lasting only seconds is unlikely to be angina 1

Precipitating Factors:

• Triggered by physical exertion or emotional stress 1
• Worsens with walking uphill, against wind, or in cold weather 1
• May occur after heavy meals or upon waking 1
• Rest angina (occurring without exertion) suggests acute coronary syndrome requiring immediate evaluation 1

Relieving Factors:

• Rapidly resolves within minutes when causal factors cease 1
• Important caveat: Relief with nitroglycerin is NOT diagnostic of angina, as esophageal spasm responds similarly 1, 2

Associated Symptoms:

• Dyspnea, diaphoresis, nausea, lightheadedness, presyncope 1
• In women, elderly, and diabetics: jaw pain, back pain, palpitations, fatigue, or isolated dyspnea without chest pain 1, 2

Heartburn/GERD Characteristics

Location and Quality:

• Burning sensation typically in epigastrium or substernal region 3
• May mimic cardiac pain, creating diagnostic confusion 3

Temporal Pattern:

• No consistent relationship to exertion 3
• Often prolonged duration (>10-20 minutes) without the brief, self-limited pattern of angina 1

Precipitating Factors:

• Related to meals, lying supine, or bending over 1
• Positional chest pain is usually nonischemic 1
• No relationship to physical activity or emotional stress 3

Associated Symptoms:

• Belching, regurgitation, sour taste 3, 4
• Unexplained indigestion unrelated to cardiac symptoms 2

High-Risk Features Requiring Immediate Cardiac Evaluation

Patient Demographics:

• Age >65 years (33% of ACS cases occur in patients >75 years) 5
• Women (often present with atypical symptoms including epigastric pain) 2, 5
• Diabetes mellitus (stronger risk factor in women; causes autonomic dysfunction leading to atypical presentations) 1, 2, 6
• Known cardiovascular risk factors: hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, family history 1, 6

Red Flag Symptoms:

• Chest discomfort with dyspnea, diaphoresis, or radiation to jaw/neck/arms 1, 2
• Syncope, presyncope, or acute confusion with chest symptoms (especially in elderly) 5, 6
• Prolonged pain >20 minutes at rest 6
• New onset symptoms or change in stable angina pattern 1

Diagnostic Algorithm

Step 1: Immediate Assessment (Within 10 Minutes)

• Obtain 12-lead ECG for any patient with chest discomfort and cardiac risk factors 1, 6
• Measure cardiac troponin immediately 6
• Place on continuous cardiac monitoring if ACS suspected 6

Step 2: Risk Stratification

• Maintain high index of suspicion in women, elderly (>75 years), diabetics, and those with prior heart failure or stroke 1, 5
• One-third of MI patients present without chest discomfort; these patients have 2.2 times higher mortality 1
• Unexplained dyspnea alone increases sudden cardiac death risk 4-fold 1

Step 3: Clinical Decision-Making

• If exertional pattern with typical radiation and risk factors present: Treat as angina until proven otherwise 1
• If purely positional, meal-related, with belching and no exertional component: Consider GERD but do not exclude cardiac disease in high-risk patients 1, 3
• When in doubt, rule out cardiac disease first—the mortality cost of missing ACS far exceeds the cost of evaluation 1, 6

Critical Pitfalls to Avoid

• Never dismiss epigastric pain as "just heartburn" without ECG and troponin in patients with cardiac risk factors 2, 6
• Do not use nitroglycerin response as a diagnostic test—esophageal disorders also respond 1, 2
• Avoid telephone-only evaluation; patients with possible ACS require in-person assessment 1
• Do not assume women or diabetics will present with typical chest pain—they frequently have atypical symptoms 1, 2, 5
• Silent MI occurs in up to 50% of cases, particularly in elderly and diabetics 1
• Patients with "nonspecific" chest pain have 2.77 times higher coronary mortality than those without chest pain 7

Special Population Considerations

Women:

• Present with jaw pain, back pain, nausea, and palpitations more frequently than men 2
• 61.9% report pain in jaw, neck, arms, or between shoulder blades versus 54.8% in men 2
• Often underestimate their cardiac risk and receive delayed care 2

Elderly (>75 years):

• May present with generalized weakness, confusion, syncope, or falls rather than chest pain 1, 5, 6
• Account for 33% of all ACS cases 5
• Higher prevalence of both cardiac and non-cardiac causes requiring comprehensive evaluation 5

Diabetics:

• Autonomic dysfunction causes atypical presentations 1, 2, 6
• Higher risk of silent ischemia 1
• Diabetes is a stronger cardiac risk factor in women than men 2