Chest Pain in a 17 year old

[Kat58]

My 17 year old son has been experiencing chest pain for the past 3 months.  He has seen two doctors (family dr.) and has had a chest x-ray, ekg, blood tests and a cat scan.  All results were normal.  He has also taken zantac to rule out that it is caused by heartburn and the dr. had him take an anti-anxiety medicine (5 pills over the weekend) to see if the cause was anxiety.  Neither of these had any effect.  It has been about 2 weeks since the pain has not gone away and he has it every day.  The pain is a mild to severe stabbing-type pain, it is in the center of his breast bone (in between his nipples, but a little higher).  He has also complained about being dizzy a couple of times.  He is really scared (so am I).  Do you have any idea what can cause this kind of pain? What should I try next?  Thank you for your help.

[amber920]

A related discussion, chest pain in 17 yro female was started.

[Saltwaterfishin]

Hi there,  Have you checked into Costal Chondritis?  I'm not a doctor, but I'm familiar with this condition.  It is a result of an inflamation of the cartilage between the ribs...hence the name....costal referring to the ribs and chondritis referring to the cartilage.  It can be a very painful condition possibly resulting from over-exertion or getting hit in the chest.  Jay

[National Jewish]

Your son should have a detailed heart evaluation.  Heart disease could explain the dizziness.  On the other hand, if a careful heart evaluation turns up nothing, these symptoms could be the result of a panic disorder.

[Kat58]

Thanks for the comment.  I finally (!) got a referral through for a cardiologist.  He seems to be better but says it hurts every day but he just deals with it.  Too young to "just deal with it" if there is something we can do.  Ill let you know if I find out anything.

[sos]

Hi

   I am not a doctor but since I too experienced the same type of problem's I am sharing what I know. When I experience the same problem's all the tests you mentioned where normal but later diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP), even though doctors won't agree that MVP is the cause of this problem, many people having MVP have chest pain and dizziness, please consult a cardiologist who can check your son and may recommend a Echo scan which can reveal this condition if present.

Thankyou..
sos