Jaw pain and myocardial ischemia: A review of potential neuroanatomical pathways.

Cardiac pain is usually manifested as a crushing, squeezing, or sensation of pressure in the center of the chest. The pain can be referred to the left shoulder, neck, jaw, and epigastric region as well as the temporomandibular region, paranasal sinuses, and head in general. Although not well understood, during myocardial ischemia, the process of cardiac referred pain to craniofacial structures can be explained by the convergence of visceral and somatic relays at the trigeminal nucleus in the brain stem. The goal of this article is to review the possible pathways for referred jaw pain due to myocardial ischemia. Clin. Anat. 32:476-479, 2019. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.