Chest pain in pregnancy
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Chest pain in pregnancy On the Web |
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Risk calculators and risk factors for Chest pain in pregnancy |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Causes of chest pain in pregnancy are similar to those in the general population. Acute life-threatening causes include myocardial infarction, aortic dissection, tension pneumothorax, as well as thromboembolic diseases that are more common in pregnancy, such as pulmonary embolism and amniotic fluid embolism. Occasionally, chest pain in pregnant women is caused by physiological changes in pregnancy, namely chest expansion and breast tenderness.
Causes
Life-threatening Causes
Life-threatening causes of chest pain among pregnant women include the following:
- Atherosclerotic plaque rupture: Common in antepartum period
- Coronary dissection: Common in peripartum or postpartum period
- Aortic dissection and other aortic syndromes
- Pulmonary embolism
- Amniotic fluid embolism
- Tension pneumothorax
Other Causes
Other causes of chest pain of pregnancy include the following:
- Asthma exacerbation
- Pneumonia
- Pneumothorax
- TB reactivation
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease
- Vasospasm
- Myocarditis
- Pericarditis
- Endocarditis
- Trauma
- Sarcoidosis
- Severe kyphoscoliosis
- Chest expansion (usually physiological change)
- Breast tenderness (usually physiological change)