The Case:

The patient is a 30-year-old female with no past medical history who presented with a complaint of chest pain that began 1 hour prior to arrival. She stated that the chest pain was on the left side, and it radiated all the way down her left arm and made her fingertips feel numb. She described the pain as a “heaviness.” The pain was accompanied by dyspnea on exertion. She denied nausea, vomiting, diaphoresis, fevers, and recent illness. She had no family history of cardiac disease. She denied all PE risk factors. She denied smoking, alcohol, and drug use.

Niyi Soetan MD

Hypertension is one of the few complaints we see where the treatment can involve treatment with counseling to aggressive blood pressure control with close ICU monitoring. Here, future EM physician Dr. Davis discusses when and how to treat hypertension and its associated emergencies.

Christopher Davis, MS4

The Case:

49-year-old female with a past medical history of anxiety presenting with central sternal chest pressure, which she describes as sharp that started 3 hours prior to arrival. The pain is non-radiating and not associated with exertion, emesis, or diaphoresis, but she does feel like she is going to pass out. She says when she has had panic attacks before, she had chest pain. Vitals were BP 124/72 mmHg, HR 59 bpm, RR 18 bpm, and Spo2 98% on RA.

Alejandro Negrete, MD