As far as possible, the recommendations in this guideline have been listed in the order in which they will be carried out and follow the diagnostic pathways. But, as there are many permutations at each decision point, it has been necessary to include frequent cross- referencing to avoid repeating recommendations several times. The algorithms presented in full guideline show the two diagnostic pathways. This guideline does not cover the diagnosis and management of chest pain that is unrelated to the heart (for example, traumatic chest wall injury, herpes zoster infection) when myocardial ischaemia has been excluded. The guideline also recognises that in people with a prior diagnosis of coronary artery disease, chest pain or discomfort is not necessarily cardiac. The term 'chest pain' is used throughout the guideline to mean chest pain or discomfort. The guideline will assume that prescribers will use a drug's summary of product characteristics to inform decisions made with individual patients. Finding more information and committee details To find NICE guidance on related topics, including guidance in development, see the NICE topic page on cardiovascular conditions. For full details of the evidence and the guideline committee's discussions, see the full guideline. You can also find information about how this guideline was developed, including details of the committee. NICE has produced tools and resources to help you put this guideline into practice. For general help and advice on putting our guidelines into practice, see resources to help you put NICE guidance into practice. Update information November 2016: New recommendations have been added for the assessment and diagnosis of acute chest pain and the assessment and diagnosis of stable chest pain. These are marked as [2016]. Where recommendations end [2010], the evidence has not been reviewed since the original guideline. 