Possible Heart Disease?

[Jim__0]

Posted by Jim on May 01, 1999 at 10:10:30
Hi,
Before I begin, I'd like to commend you for the creation of this web site. It's an excellent idea and a wonderful forum. Having said that, I'll begin. I'm a male in my early forties with no history of serious illness or injury. I'm a relatively light drinker averaging 6 to 8 beers per week. I'm not overweight and I don't smoke. The last two or three months or so I've experienced the following problems: mild discomfort in my right chest area, mild soreness in my right shoulder/neck area, nervousness, a feeling of fullness/tightness in my sternum area and tingling/numbness in my back between my right scapula and vertebrae. The problems come and go for no apparent reason, can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours, and at this point don't appear to be related to stress, physical exertion or eating. The only patterns I've been able to detect thus far are that I feel best when I wake up in the morning and that lying down seems to provide some relief.  I've seen my primary care physician about the problem. He asked me some questions, examined my thoracic area, and took chest X-rays. Everything seemed to check out fine. He's of the opinion that my problem is probably related to a mild case of scoliosis that I have (my torso tilts a little to the left and the gap between the bottom of my ribs and pelvic bones on the left side of my body is slightly narrower than the gap on the right side of my body). If scoliosis is indeed the problem, I don't understand why I've never had these problems previously. Do you think that my problems could possibly be cardiovascular in nature vice scoliosis? If so, should I ask my primary care physician to perform additional tests in addition to the chest X-rays? If so, what tests should I ask to have performed? Or would you recommend that I make an appointment with a heaart specialist? If the scoliosis is causing the problem, should I be seeing a physical therapist or orthopedist? Any advice you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jim
Posted by CCF CARDIO MD-APS on May 05, 1999 at 11:22:07
Dear Jim,
Seeing a cardiologist is probably a good idea simply because you didn't comment on  few risk factors (like family history and cholesterol level) and a cardiologist will likely order a stress test which is probably indicated more so based on your age then symptoms. Your symptoms sound atypical (non cardiac) but you can not get as sure an answer with just the physical exam, history, and a chest x-ray that you can with a stress test in regards to cardiac risk.
As for the scoliosis, an orthopaedist would be the one to solidify the diagnosis as well as recommend the appropriate physical therapy.
I hope you find this information useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for general
purposes only. Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to
write back with additional questions. Good luck.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call
1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at
www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that
can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.