Tietze Syndrome

There is a pulling sensation in your chest. Not diffuse, not spread across a wide area — pinpointed, exactly where your ribs meet the sternum. A particular cartilage is swollen, tender to the touch, sometimes so painful that you think something must be wrong with your heart. Many people with Tietze syndrome end up in the emergency room first, fearing a heart attack. And then they are almost confused when the diagnosis turns out to be: it's just cartilage. Just a joint between the rib and the sternum that has become inflamed.