What is the Difference Between Costochondritis and Heart Attack

The key difference between costochondritis and heart attack is that costochondritis is due to the inflammation of the cartilage that connects a rib to the breastbone, while heart attack is due to decreasing or stopping blood flow to the coronary artery of the heart, which causes damage to the heart muscle.

Chest pain can be due to various possible causes, including indigestion, reflux, muscle strain, costochondritis, shingles, angina, or heart attack. Aside from the heart, many parts of the chest may cause chest pain. These include lungs, oesophagus, muscle, bone, and skin.

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Costochondritis
3. What is Heart Attack
4. Similarities – Costochondritis and Heart Attack
5. Costochondritis and Heart Attack in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Costochondritis vs Heart Attack

What is Costochondritis?

Costochondritis is a medical condition due to the inflammation of the cartilage that connects a rib to the breastbone. Normally the pain caused by costochondritis might mimic that of a heart attack or other heart condition. The pain caused by costochondritis typically feels like a dull or sharp soreness in the chest. It is also known as chest wall pain, costosternal syndrome, or costosternal chondrodynia. Sometimes, in this condition, swelling accompanies the pain. If this happens, it is known as Tietze syndrome.

Costochondritis and Heart Attack - Side by Side Comparison

Figure 01: Costochondritis

The symptoms of this condition include sharp pain in front of the chest where the breastbone meets ribs, typically on the left side, pain spreading to the back or belly, pain when taking deep breaths or cough, and tenderness when pressing on the rib joints. If it occurs due to an infection after surgery, you can notice symptoms like redness, swelling, or pus discharge at the site of the surgery. Moreover, the causes of costochondritis include repeated minor trauma in the chest wall, overuse of the heart, arthritis, tumors, respiratory infections, bacterial infections, and fungal infections (in rare cases). This condition can be diagnosed through physical examination or imaging tests like electrocardiographs, X-rays, CT, or MRI. Furthermore, treatments for this condition may include medications such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen), narcotics (codeine), antidepressants (amitriptyline), anti-seizure drugs (gabapentin), physical therapy (stretching exercises, nerve stimulation), and surgery.

What is Heart Attack?

Heart attack is a medical condition due to decreasing or stopping the blood flow to the coronary artery of the heart, which causes damage to the heart muscle. It is also known as myocardial infarction. The symptoms of this condition may include chest pain (angina), shortness of breath or trouble breathing, nausea or stomach discomfort, heart palpitation, anxiety, sweating, feeling light-headedness, dizziness, or passing out. Heart attack can occur due to various reasons, including spasms of the artery, rare medical conditions, trauma, obstructions that come from elsewhere in the body, electrolyte imbalance, and eating disorders.

Costochondritis vs Heart Attack in Tabular Form

Figure 02: Heart Attack

Moreover, this condition can be diagnosed through electrocardiogram (ECG), blood tests, chest X-ray, echocardiogram, coronary catheterization, and cardiac CT or MRI. Furthermore, treatment for heart attack may include medications such as aspirin, thrombolytics, antiplatelet agents, blood-thinning medications, pain relievers, nitroglycerin, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, statins, and surgeries and other procedures like coronary angioplasty and stenting, coronary artery bypass surgery, and cardiac rehabilitation.

What are the Similarities Between Costochondritis and Heart Attack?

Costochondritis and heart attack are two conditions that cause chest pain.
Both conditions occur in the upper part of the body (chest).
Both conditions can be diagnosed through imaging tests.
They are treatable conditions.

What is the Difference Between Costochondritis and Heart Attack?

Costochondritis is due to the inflammation of the cartilage that connects a rib to the breastbone, while heart attack is due to decreasing or stopping blood flow to the coronary artery of the heart, which causes damage to the heart muscle. Thus, this is the key difference between costochondritis and heart attack. Furthermore, costochondritis typically feels like a dull or sharp soreness in the chest, while heart attack typically feels like a crushing weight or pressure on the chest.

The below infographic presents the differences between costochondritis and heart attack in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Costochondritis vs Heart Attack

Chest pain can be due to various possible causes. Costochondritis and heart attack are two conditions that cause chest pain. Costochondritis is due to the inflammation of the cartilage that connects a rib to the breastbone, while heart attack is due to decreasing or stopping blood flow to the coronary artery of the heart, which causes damage to the heart muscle. So, this is the key difference between costochondritis and heart attack.