Differential Diagnosis
Cardiac and esophageal causes may share similar symptoms as these two structures have the same nerve supply.
Cardiac disease is one of the first conditions that must be excluded in patients with unexplained chest pain given that patients with chest pain related to GERD cannot be distinguished from those with chest pain due to cardiac conditions. As many as 30% of chest pain patients undergoing cardiac catheterization have findings which do not account for their chest discomfort, and are often defined as having "atypical chest pain" or chest pain of undetermined origin. According to data recorded in several studies based on ambulatory pH and pressure monitoring, it is estimated that 25% to 50% of these patients have evidence of abnormal GERD.
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