We know cardiac pain is often referred to Jaw and neck .
What prevents the neck pain of cervical spinal disease to be referred over the heart ? Can pure spinal lesions mimic angina ?
The answer seems to be “Yes” . The neuronal circuit is there .Only , the traffic has to be reversed. Medical logic is always puzzling. There is indeed an entity called cervical angina.
The cardiac pain can be referred any where between dermatomes C3 to T 10 It is generally believed cervical radicular pain can go only one way . . . ie towards the nape of neck and arms .Dermatomal overlap ,neural cross talks thalamic inputs and cortical reflection and perception always make the subject of referred pain too complex.
Now,It seems possible ,the neck pain can spill over into the anterior chest wall ,mimicking angina .Imagine the confusion if the patient has both cardiac and cervical entities ! Does the pain signals from the two sites collide in the local spinal network ? Does one extinguish or amplify the other ?
This article which was published in the Spinal Cord .
Read also linked angina
http://www.nature.com/sc/journal/v44/n8/pdf/3101888a.pdf
Dr.S.Venkatesan MD 