title: Chest CT examinations in patients presenting with acute chest pain: a pictorial review.
abstract: Acute chest pain (ACP) is one of the most common presenting symptoms at the emergency department. The differential diagnosis is vast. To exclude life-threatening causes, radiologists encounter an increasing amount of thoracic computed tomography (CT) examinations including CT angiography of the heart and great vessels. The dual- and triple-rule CT examinations are currently implemented in clinical practice. We retrospectively identified chest CT examinations in the setting of acute chest pain in our hospitals and collected a variety of common and uncommon cases. In this pictorial essay, we present the most educative cases from patients who presented with acute chest pain in the emergency department of our hospitals and for whom a thoracic CT was ordered. When aortic emergencies, acute coronary syndrome, and pulmonary embolism are excluded, these cases may help the radiologist to suggest alternative diagnoses in the diagnostic challenge of acute chest pain. Teaching Points • The number of chest CT examinations for ACP is increasing.• Chest CT examinations may help suggesting alternative diagnosis in ACP.• Radiologists should be aware of the differential diagnosis of ACP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, C2-S, Leiden University Medical Centre, Albinusdreef 2a, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands. s.hammer@lumc.nl.
authors.forename: Sebastiaan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hammer
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, C2-S, Leiden University Medical Centre, Albinusdreef 2a, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lucia J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Kroft
authors.affiliation: Cardiac Imaging Unit, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Clínica Creu Blanca, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Reina Elisenda de Montcada 17, Barcelona, 08034, Spain.
authors.forename: Alberto L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Hidalgo
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Clínica Creu Blanca, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Reina Elisenda de Montcada 17, Barcelona, 08034, Spain.
authors.forename: Ruben
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Leta
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, C2-S, Leiden University Medical Centre, Albinusdreef 2a, 2333 ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Roos
keywords: Acute chest syndrome; Cardiac imaging techniques; Chest computed tomography; Chest pain; Emergency care