17th January 2024

A 22-year-old medical student attends A&E with sudden onset chest pain and tachypnoea, associated with paraesthesia of the fingers.

A 22-year-old medical student attends A&E with sudden onset chest pain and tachypnoea, associated with paraesthesia of the fingers. She reports being anxious about her upcoming exams. She has no past medical history, and her only medication is the combined oral contraceptive pill. She is indeed tachypnoeic, but her other observations are normal. Her arterial blood gas shows a pH of 7.48, pO2 of 9.1 and a pCO2 of 2.8.  

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