Chest wall pain is frequently confused with angina pectoris. Differences in location, duration, and quality often differentiate chest wall pain from angina pectoris. Eating rather than exertion is the cause of distal esophagus pain. However, testing may be necessary to differentiate it from angina pectoris. Anxiety, the hyperventilation syndrome, or both are often associated with chest pain that may mimic angina pectoris, though the pain caused by anxiety or hyperventilation is usually sharp and fleeting or very prolonged and highly localized.
Patients report a sensation of skipping, fluttering, pounding, or racing.
It is useful to have the patient describe the regularity or irregularity and the approximate rate of the palpitation. Associated light-headedness or syncope should be ascertained. Sinus tachycardia is more gradual in onset and termination. Patients may not sense palpitation during ventricular tachycardia. Rather, they may experience dyspnea, syncope, or severe fatigue.