Heart Health Center

Conditions Other Than Coronary Artery Disease and Heart Attack That Cause Chest Pain

While chest pain is typical of a heart attack and coronary artery disease, it may also be caused by:

Digestive system problems.

• Stomach acid moving upward into the esophagus (esophageal reflux or heartburn)
• Muscle spasm of the esophagus
• Gallbladder disease
• A sore in the lining of the stomach or small intestine (peptic ulcer)

Inflammation.

• Inflammation of the membrane surrounding the lungs (pleurisy)
• Inflammation of the membrane covering the heart (pericarditis)

Heart, lung, and heart valve problems.

• A tear in the wall of the aorta (aortic dissection)
• Narrowing of the aortic valve (aortic stenosis)
• A blood clot in one of the arteries of the lungs (pulmonary embolism)

Other causes.

• Panic, anxiety, stress, or depression
• Shingles (herpes zoster), a reactivation of the chickenpox virus that causes pain and a rash
• Pain in the bones and/or muscles of the chest wall