I have posted several times before and I know I am asking kinda the same question over and over. I am a 28 yr old women, overweight and a smoker, I have a strong family history of heart disease. I had a stress echo 4 yrs ago, I had a treadmill stress test 6 months ago and a calcium CT score 5 months ago. I have started having pain in the right side of my chest that goes into my right shoulder and sometimes the right arm. I am convinced it is my heart but the dr's insist it is mainly stomach and muscle related pain. I do suffer from anxiety and stay tense alot. My question is this, with all of the above mentioned tests being normal, what are the chances that it is heart related? Never found anything on any of my test except for mild mitral valve prolapse and some pvc's on a holter moniter. Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!

jess,

With the above tests, the chances of your pain being cardiac are pretty small. If that stress test was a NUCLEAR test, then the chances are VERY small.

Take care of the anxiety, it'll do wonders for your outlook :)

The most recent one was only where I walk on the treadmill and they do an ekg. I have since however had the ct calcium scan done though. The one several years ago, was just the stress echo, where I walkedon the treadmill and then they did they ultrasound of my heart.

jess,

The next time you have a stress test, if you do, demand a NUCLEAR stress test. It is pretty confirmatory about the condition of coronary arteries.

"I am a 28 yr old women, overweight and a smoker, I have a strong family history of heart disease."

A strong family history of heart disease, especially if they were very young when they had heart problems (i.e. 40's, 50's or less) obviously puts you at a higher risk for developing heart disease. There is nothing you can do about your genes, but the two facts that you mentioned (being overweight and a smoker) are definitely under your control. I am sure you already know this, but I am going to state the obvious, and the immediate thing that you should do is to take care of these two issues which are under your control i.e. quit smoking and control your weight and cholesterol. This will go a long way in helping to reduce the family-history risk factor and allow you to live a healthy life.

A regular treadmill stress test and CT calcium scan are not very reliable in evaluating cardiac health. Anyway, these tests were done a few months ago and if the symptoms you are now experiencing started after those tests were done, it is time for further evaluation as suggested by Lenin. But even if the nuclear stress test comes out normal, it does not negate the fact that you should eliminate the risk factors discussed above.

I had the same concern in April 2001 and went for a CT Cardiac Screening. It took 5 minutes and you don't remove any clothing. It takes 200 images of your heart and you receive a score. I received a calcification score of 330 on the Agatston scale and 338 on a volumetric index. This was slightly above the norm for someone my age. 400+ is a serious matter. I was relieved and it was worth the $250 to have piece of mind. It's probably $400or more today. You may not be covered by Insurance. You'll need a Doctor's Prescription.

Jess,

I don't want to minimize the risk of a heart problem, any pain should be checked out, but you might to ask your doctor about getting your gallbladder checked out. I have had chest pain which after much cardiac testing turned out to be my gallbladder. You symptoms are classic, pain in the right side of your chest and into your right arm. When I had mine removed the pain went away! You may want to look up the symptoms of gallbladder disease, you might be surprised.

Again, with a strong family history you need to rule out cardiac issues first and Lenin is right, get the nuclear stress test it is much more accurate and will give you better peace of mind.

Good Luck!

Tony