Chest pain is a common clinical symptom, and many diseases can cause chest pain, such as herpes zoster, costochondritis, heart attack, pneumothorax, pulmonary embolism, etc. Today, we will briefly talk about several types of “chest pain” that may be life-threatening and need special attention. Coronary heart disease This is a well-known cause of severe chest pain, and middle-aged and elderly patients with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, smoking, obesity and family history of coronary heart disease have a higher risk of developing the disease. The most common clinical symptoms are retrosternal pain that radiates to the left shoulder and arm, angina that lasts for several minutes at a time and is relieved by rest or elimination of the trigger, and no discomfort after the chest pain is relieved. If the chest pain is severe and lasts for more than 30 minutes, accompanied by heavy sweating, chest tightness or even a feeling of suffocation, it means that it has probably developed into myocardial infarction. Even if the chest pain is relieved and there is no longer any discomfort, you should go to the hospital for relevant examination and treatment as soon as possible. Aortic coarctation This disease is mostly seen in patients with hypertension, especially those with poor blood pressure control. The aortic wall has a multilayer structure, and aortic coarctation is a localized tear in the intima of the aortic vessel, which is subjected to strong impact of blood flow, and the intima is gradually peeled off, forming a pocket-like pseudocavity with the vessel wall under the action of blood flow, because the tearing area is a weak tissue structure and subjected to great pressure of blood flow, which is prone to rupture, just like a blown-up balloon always ruptures at the weak point. Most patients have chest pain that occurs during strenuous activity, and the chest pain is sudden, intense tearing-like pain in the chest and back, which may be accompanied by profuse sweating. If the site of the entrapment occurs close to the heart, the artery ruptures soon after the occurrence of severe chest pain causing the patient to die immediately after the chest pain; if the site of the entrapment occurs far from the heart, the severe chest pain turns into chest tightness followed by symptoms such as abdominal pain and bloating, indicating that the entrapment continues to extend downward and is very dangerous. Those with similar symptoms need to rush to a hospital with cardiovascular medicine, cardiovascular surgery, or vascular surgery and with appropriate surgical qualifications as soon as possible. Pulmonary embolism As the name suggests, this disease is the result of a blocked artery in the lung. Venous thrombosis of the lower extremities, prolonged bed rest with little movement, chronic cardiopulmonary disease, post-surgery, trauma (including soft tissue contusion), fracture, malignancy, obesity, pregnancy and oral contraceptive pills can constitute risk factors for developing this disease. The embolus is mostly from the deep veins of the lower extremities. The embolus reaches the pulmonary artery and can cause different symptoms depending on the segment of the artery blocked, often lacking specificity. Most patients can see symptoms such as dyspnea, chest pain, aura syncope, syncope, hemoptysis, etc., and have accelerated respiratory heart rate, decreased blood pressure and cyanosis; there are also completely asymptomatic patients, and some of the first manifestations are sudden death. Tension pneumothorax refers to a variety of causes of the pleural cavity leaky airway and presents a one-way valve shape, the pleural cavity is negative pressure during inspiration, gas through the valve into the pleural cavity, but when exhaling the pleural cavity pressure rises rapidly to close the valve, simply like a river into the reservoir, there is no out, more and more accumulation, and finally the gas squeezed the lungs leading to breathing difficulties or even asphyxia. Patients often present with chest pain with extreme dyspnea and seated breathing. Other causes In addition to the above common factors, there are many other diseases that can cause chest pain, some of which can also present a life-threatening risk, so if chest pain occurs, regardless of its severity, it is still recommended to go to the hospital for examination.