Chest Pain: A Relatively Benign Symptom of Type IV Hiatal Hernia

Hiatal hernia results from the translocation of intra-abdominal contents from their usual position into the thorax. They can be categorized into type I-IV which implies varying gradations of herniation. The symptomatology can range from just chest pain in the less severe types to respiratory and hemodynamic compromise resulting from strangulation in the advanced hernias. Our patient was an 81-year-old female with a past medical history of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), deep venous thrombosis (DVT), hypertension, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease (CAD), and cerebrovascular accident (CVA), who presented to the emergency department (ED) with the chief complaint of chest pain. Assessment of the vitals in the ED revealed a temperature of 37.2 °C, respiratory rate of 18 breaths/minute with an oxygen saturation of 100% on room air, heart rate of 95 beats/min, and blood pressure reading of 132/110 mmHg. Due to significant concern of a possible coronary pathology leading to chest pain, the patient was given 325 mg of aspirin and one tablet of sublingual nitroglycerin. Her electrocardiogram (EKG) was unremarkable but the chest X-ray revealed a large retrocardiac hernia. The finding was corroborated after a review of the computerized tomography (CT) scan performed at the outlying facility. She was treated with omeprazole, a gastroenterologist was consulted, and an esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) performed which revealed significant erosions in the distal esophagus and gastric antrum. She was deemed a high-risk surgical candidate for any intervention and thus managed conservatively with proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy. The case highlights the pertinent facts about hiatal hernia. Although the diagnosis of chest pain with the aforementioned comorbidities could be skewed towards coronary pathology, keeping a wide differential is important so that the right diagnosis can be made in a timely fashion and complications avoided.