What was my cardiologist ruling out?

November 11, 2023 2:20 AM

Since I was there and the cardiologist was asking, I mentioned that on very rare occasions, I can't take full breaths due to pain in the ribs preventing deep inhalation. The cardiologist asked if certain positions relieved the pain. I said not that I remembered. The cardiologist said that was good. What was the cardiologist ruling out?
posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (2 answers total)

Pericarditis classically presents with pain that improves when leaning forward.

Unrelated to the heart but in the lower chest/upper abdomen, pancreatitis pain can sometimes be positionally relieved as well.

Few positional findings are sensitive enough to truly rule anything out but can be helpful in clarifying a diagnostic picture.
posted by skyl1n3 at 3:12 AM on November 11, 2023

Conversely, when I was younger I used to get what's called a precordial catch pretty frequently. Not relieved at all (for me at least) by changing position, painful but otherwise completely harmless.
posted by phunniemee at 5:21 AM on November 11, 2023