Healio Cardiologists Share Tips on Managing Heart Conditions in Primary Care Skip to main content Close Select your preferred language English عربى 简体中文 繁體中文 فارسي עִברִית 日本語 한국어 Русский Español Tagalog Menu Close Call 1-800-CEDARS-1 toggle search form Close Los Angeles, 28 April 2022 09:00 AM America/Los_Angeles Healio Cardiologists Share Tips on Managing Heart Conditions in Primary Care Cardiac chest pain tends to be related to exertion or stress and often feels like pressure, squeezing, heaviness or tightness in the center of the chest, says Cedars-Sinai cardiologist Raj Khandwalla, MD. Photo by Getty Images. Healio recently interviewed Cedars-Sinai cardiologist Raj Khandwalla, MD, director of Digital Therapeutics at the Smidt Heart Institute, about how primary care physicians can better assess and address their patients' cardiovascular health. Assessing chest pain and determining whether it could be related to cardiovascular disease can be very challenging for primary care physicians, Khandwalla told Healio. He recommended the 2021 guideline for evaluating and diagnosing chest pain from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association as "a useful tool to guide primary care physicians in determining a pretest probability of the likelihood of a patient having coronary disease." The guideline helps physicians classify chest pain as cardiac, possibly cardiac or non-cardiac. Chest pain caused by cardiac issues tends to be related to exertion or stress and often feels like pressure, squeezing, heaviness or tightness in the center of the chest, Khandwalla told Healio. In contrast non-cardiac chest pain tends to be sharp, fleeting and related to breathing or position. Using a tool like the guideline to categorize symptoms "can help primary care physicians assess cardiovascular risk more accurately,” said Khandwalla, who is an assistant professor of Cardiology. Khandwalla said that many primary care physicians misunderstand the benefits of using a stent—an expandable coil inserted in narrowed or blocked coronary arteries—to treat stable coronary disease. “The perception out there is that if you put a coronary stent in someone with stable chest pain or stable angina, you’re going to prevent heart attacks or prolong people’s life,” Khandwalla told Healio. He said multiple studies have demonstrated that this type of treatment has not been shown to decrease heart attacks, death, and death from a cardiovascular cause. Rather than recommending stents for patients with stable heart disease, Khandwalla encouraged primary care physicians to monitor their patients’ symptoms and to watch for new chest pain or a decrease in exercise tolerance. Click here to read the complete article from Healio. Related Stories RSS feed - Related Stories (opens in new window) View all headlines - Related Stories HealthDay Black Women Less Likely to Get Laparoscopic Fibroid Surgeries October 07, 2022 09:00 AM America/Los_Angeles HealthDay recently interviewed Rebecca J. Schneyer, MD, a resident in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program at Cedars-Sinai, about a study she led that found Black and Hispanic women were less likely than white women to receive minimally … Read more KCRW Want New Omicron Booster Wait at Least 2 Months After Last Shot October 06, 2022 09:00 AM America/Los_Angeles KCRW program Press Play recently featured Rita Shane, PharmD, vice president and chief pharmacy officer at Cedars-Sinai, discussing who qualifies for the updated COVID-19 booster and how long patients must wait before getting the shot.The Centers … Read more ABC 7 Spider-Man Swings by 4-Year-Old Leukemia Patient s Birthday Party at Cedars-Sinai September 30, 2022 09:00 AM America/Los_Angeles ABC 7 recently profiled Cedars-Sinai patient Jabari Henley, who celebrated his fourth birthday with a special superhero at Guerin Children's newly opened inpatient facility.The Lifedriven Foundation helped throw Henley a surprise party in the Guerin … Read more Show previous items Show next items Contact the Media Team Email: [email protected] Share this release Healio Cardiologists Share Tips on Managing Heart Conditions in Primary Care Share on: Twitter Share on: Facebook Share on: LinkedIn Search Our Newsroom Social media Visit our Facebook page (opens in new window) Follow us on Twitter (opens in new window) Visit our Youtube profile (opens in new window) (opens in new window) Latest news 07 Oct 2022 - HealthDay Black Women Less Likely to Get Laparoscopic Fibroid Surgeries 07 Oct 2022 - Faculty Publications: Sept. 29-Oct. 6 07 Oct 2022 - Fine-Tuning Organ-Chip Technology 06 Oct 2022 - KCRW Want New Omicron Booster Wait at Least 2 Months After Last Shot 05 Oct 2022 - Cedars-Sinai Schedules Free Flu Vaccine Clinics 04 Oct 2022 - Cedars-Sinai Showcases Hispanic and Latinx Art Newsroom Home