When Neck Pain Is a Heart Problem: Cardiovascular Screening and Referral

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who see patients with neck pain, particularly in direct-access or self-referral settings where no physician has evaluated the patient first.

Licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in outpatient orthopaedic, sports, and direct-access practice, plus students and educators interested in screening for medical referral.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Introductory

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

Lopez G, Cataldi F, Bellin G, Dunning J, Fernández-de-las-Peñas C, Galeno E, Meroni R, Maselli F, Mourad F. Physiotherapy Screening for Referral of a Patient with Patent Foramen Ovale Presenting with Neck Pain as Primary Complaint: A Case Report. Healthcare. 2023;11:1165.

Open access under a Creative Commons Attribution licence. This course reports what the case report describes and what its authors concluded. It does not add clinical claims the source does not make.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the presenting complaints, history findings, and examination findings that led the treating physiotherapist in this case to suspect a cardiovascular cause for neck pain.
2. Name the screening elements the case report identifies as part of the core skill set for physiotherapy screening for referral, including blood pressure measurement at rest and during exercise.
3. State what the emergency department workup found in this patient and what the authors concluded about the physiotherapist's role in triaging conditions outside the scope of practice.

1. Start Here: how this course works
2. Podcast: Neck Pain That Turned Out to Be Cardiac (about nine minutes)
3. The Patient and the Presenting Picture
4. How the Physiotherapist Worked the Case
5. What the Hospital Found and How the Patient Did
6. Understanding Patent Foramen Ovale and the Screening Toolkit
7. What a Single Case Can and Cannot Tell You
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-test and course evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. Lopez G, Cataldi F, Bellin G, Dunning J, Fernández-de-las-Peñas C, Galeno E, Meroni R, Maselli F, Mourad F. Physiotherapy Screening for Referral of a Patient with Patent Foramen Ovale Presenting with Neck Pain as Primary Complaint: A Case Report. Healthcare. 2023;11:1165.
2. Open access under a Creative Commons Attribution licence. This course reports what the case report describes and what its authors concluded. It does not add clinical claims the source does not make.