Angina – History in Diagnosis

Transcript

I learned in medical school, that the best way to diagnose diseases is obviously from the history. What we know is that the history of the patient gives us 85% of the information. The test that we do obviously gives us 5% and the physical exam gives the additional 10%, but yet in our world, we do a lot more testing than listening. If you listen to the patient, they will be able to give you in their history, almost all the information you need to go on to your diagnosis. And when it comes to coronary disease and symptomatic coronary disease, it’s the history that really highlights that. So when a patient comes in men or women who has chest pain with activity that goes away with rest, then really to the arm or not to the jaw or not, that’s associated with shortness of breath or nausea or sweating, we have to strongly think about the possibility of symptomatic coronary disease. And then obviously if that is increasing in intensity or frequency, you have to think about the possibility of what we call unstable angina, more worrisome angina, the kind of angina that leads to a heart attack. If you don’t identify it in a timely fashion,