Cardiologist Warns 1 in 3 Heart Attacks Lack Chest Pain After Earache Case

1 articles · Updated · Newsweek · Aug 9

Kaustubh Dabhadkar said an apparent earache turned out to be a heart attack after an EKG showed a major artery was shutting down; once doctors opened the artery, the ear pain stopped.
The Charlotte preventive cardiologist said the case illustrates referred pain: heart nerves share pathways with the chest, jaw, neck, arms and upper belly, so the brain can misread the source.
Roughly a third of heart attack patients have no chest pain, he said, and atypical symptoms become more common with age; after 85, classic chest pain is rare.
Jaw, teeth, throat or upper-back pain, breathlessness, heavy fatigue, cold sweats, nausea and a sense that something is badly wrong should prompt an EKG, especially if symptoms are new, unexplained, triggered by exertion and eased by rest.
A 2025 JACC study found more than 99% of people later diagnosed with coronary artery disease, heart failure or stroke had at least one prior risk factor such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, elevated blood sugar or smoking history.