People with shortness of breath may have a higher risk of dying from heart disease than those who experience chest pain or are without symptoms, say researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. In a recent NEJM-published study, patients with no history of coronary artery disease who had trouble breathing were four times more likely to suffer death from a cardiac cause than asympto-matic patients and twice as likely as patients who had typical chest pain.

The findings are important for the public as well as for healthcare providers.

"If we can identify patients with coronary disease before an event occurs, then the vast majority of the cardiac events could be prevented by modern therapies," explained Dr. Daniel Berman, senior author of the study and the director of cardiac imaging at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. "For patients, increased awareness of shortness of breath as a possible cardiac symptom will hopefully prompt those with unexplained shortness of breath to see their doctor sooner rather than later."