Jaw pain can be a prodromal symptom of cardiac disease, and concurrent dental pathology may mask the diagnosis, leading to delayed recognition of myocardial infarction.
Consider cardiac ischemia in recurrent jaw pain despite dental findings; this case leaves open prospective validation of prodromal symptoms.
Jaw pain with no accompanying pathology should raise suspicion of pain of cardiac origin. However, jaw pain associated with dental infection and a soft swelling may mask the prodromal stage of cardiac disease. In a unique case of a 43 year old Indian woman who came to the Emergency Room with a complaint of right-sided jaw pain; infection and swelling due to a right-sided carious tooth was diagnosed as being the cause. After dental treatment, her pain subsided. Six weeks later, she returned, claiming she had “exactly the same pain”. Doubts of failed dental treatment were unfounded and a neuropathic pain disorder was suspected. This oversight culminated in an acute myocardial infarction a day later.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
A 2011 study studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: