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  • NICE guidance. Chest pain of recent onset: assessment and diagnosis of recent onset chest pain or discomfort of suspected cardiac origin

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Technology and guidelines
NICE guidance. Chest pain of recent onset: assessment and diagnosis of recent onset chest pain or discomfort of suspected cardiac origin
  1. Jane S Skinner1,
  2. Liam Smeeth2,
  3. Jason M Kendall3,
  4. Philip C Adams1,
  5. Adam Timmis4
  6. on behalf of the Chest Pain Guideline Development Group
  1. 1The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
  2. 2Department of Clinical Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
  3. 3Department of Emergency Medicine, North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, UK
  4. 4Department of Clinical Cardiology, Barts and the London NHS Trust, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Jane S Skinner, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Queen Victoria Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4LP, UK; jane.skinner{at}nuth.nhs.uk

https://doi.org/10.1136/hrt.2009.190066

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    Chest pain is a very common symptom; 20% to 40% of the general population will experience chest pain during their lives,1 and in the UK, up to 1% of visits to a general practitioner are because of chest pain.2 Approximately 700 000 visits (5%) to the emergency department in England and Wales and up to 25% of emergency hospital admissions are because of chest pain.3 There are many causes of chest pain, some of which are benign, while others are potentially life threatening. Importantly, in patients with chest pain caused by an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or angina, there are effective treatments to improve symptoms and prolong life, emphasising the importance of making timely and accurate diagnoses in patients in whom chest pain may be of cardiac origin. This guideline4 addresses the assessment and diagnosis of patients with recent onset chest pain/discomfort that may be of cardiac origin. Unlike many other National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) clinical guidelines it does not make recommendations for the management of the condition once the diagnosis is made. The NICE unstable angina and NSTEMI clinical guideline5 was published at the same time as the chest pain guideline, and a NICE clinical guideline for the management of angina is currently being prepared.6

    The guideline has two separate diagnostic pathways. The first is for patients with acute chest pain who may have an ACS and the second for those with intermittent stable chest pain who may have stable angina. The guideline deals with chest pain of suspected cardiac origin. Thus, for example, the guideline does not apply to patients with pain considered to be caused by recent trauma to the chest. However, many patients presenting with chest pain do not have such clearly apparent alternative explanations and need …

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    Footnotes

    • See Editorial, p 903

    • Linked articles 197947.

    • ↵* Full membership of the Guideline Development Group: Cooper A, Calvert N, Skinner J, Sawyer L, Sparrow, K, Timmis A, Turnbull N, Cotterell M, Hill D, Adams P, Ashcroft J, Clark L, Coulden R, Hemingway H, James C, Jarman H, Kendall J, Lewis P, Patel K, Smeeth L, Taylor J.

    • Funding This work was undertaken by National Clinical Guideline Centre for Acute and Chronic Conditions which received funding from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the institute. LS is supported by a senior clinical fellowship from the Wellcome Trust. Other funders: See above statement.

    • Competing interests JSS was the clinical adviser and AT the chair for the NICE guideline, Chest pain of recent onset: Assessment and diagnosis of recent onset chest pain or discomfort of suspected cardiac origin; and JSS, JMK, LS, PCA and AT were all members of the Guideline Development Group.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

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