Chest Pain: An Overlooked Cause

It is called Tietze costochondritis, and Tietze costochondritis is an inflammation of the chest wall and the sternum. Many people think they're having a heart attack and as you know, I tell people that if they're experiencing chest pain, they need to be evaluated. But when I can reproduce that pain and I have tests which show it's not a heart attack, it often is the result of that inflammation in the sternal area. Tietze costochondritis can be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs and people respond quite well to it.