Chest Pain

Washington Bullets assistant coach Bill Blair, who entere Anne Arundel Hospital on Thursday complaining of chest pains, has been transferred to Washington Hospital Center to undergo further tests, a team spokesman said yesterday.All of the tests Blair underwent Thursday proved negative, team physician Herb Singer said. He will be kept under observation at Washington Hospital this weekend.The Bullets, who entertain the Indiana Pacers at the Capital Centre tonight, begin a five-game, two week western swing in Sacramento, Calif.

Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake stepped out of a black SUV shortly after being released from the hospital Thursday afternoon and teetered in stiletto heels toward City Hall. "I guess I wore the wrong shoes to show I'm back on my feet," she said with a wry grin. The mayor was hospitalized for 11 hours after she awoke before dawn with chest pains, numbness and dizziness. Doctors performed a battery of tests and determined that the 39-year-old was suffering from gastrointestinal difficulties, she said.

Maryland Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday with a round of parties and receptions, was admitted to the University of Maryland Medical Center yesterday after complaining of chest and arm pains. Schaefer, the former Maryland governor and mayor of Baltimore, arrived about 12:45 p.m. at D'Alesio's Restaurant in Little Italy for a birthday luncheon honoring his friend, Gene M. Raynor, the former chief of the state Board of Elections. Shortly after his arrival, Schaefer felt pains in his chest and arm and was driven to the hospital by his state police driver, restaurant patrons said.

Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. was "resting comfortably" yesterday after undergoing triple-bypass surgery in a Towson hospital, his aides said. The 66-year-old former judge, who was re-elected to his second term as head of the county government in 2006, checked himself into St. Joseph Medical Center on Tuesday after feeling pain in his chest. "He obviously did the right thing," said Dr. Stephen Pollock, the hospital's chief of cardiology and director of its Heart Institute.

State Sen. Larry E. Haines, leader of Carroll's legislative delegation and Senate minority whip, left Anne Arundel Medical Center yesterday afternoon with a near-perfect bill of health, at least as far as his heart is concerned. Haines, a Republican, was hospitalized for almost a day after complaining of severe chest pains Monday evening. "I am doing well, and I am thankful that I have no coronary disease," Haines, 63, said shortly before he was discharged from the Annapolis-area hospital yesterday afternoon.

Former Baltimore Colts quarterback John Unitas, who checked into University of Maryland Medical Center for a battery of heart tests Monday after complaining of chest pains, got a clean bill of health from the doctors and will return home today."

A 36-year-old Baltimore County firefighter suffered a fatal heart attack Saturday, a day after being released from a hospital for treatment of chest pains he experienced while exercising at his station house, fire officials said yesterday. Jarrett Dixon, a 10-year department veteran, began having chest pains Wednesday while using a treadmill at the Halethorpe station, where he was assigned as a fire apparatus driver operator, said Elise Armacost, a Fire Department spokesman. Dixon, who was also a longtime volunteer firefighter at the Liberty Road Volunteer Fire Company, was transported to St. Agnes Hospital for treatment.

Former President Bill Clinton, who at age 58 has appeared trim and vigorous, checked into New York Presbyterian Hospital yesterday after suffering chest pains and shortness of breath and was scheduled for quadruple bypass surgery, his office said. Clinton did not suffer a heart attack, but tests earlier in the day at a suburban hospital found four blockages in his coronary arteries that could trigger an attack if left untreated. In a statement last night, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said her husband would probably undergo surgery early next week.

An inmate who died of an acute lung infection while in custody in Howard County told the nurse treating him for a suicide attempt that he had cut his wrist so that guards would send him to the hospital for chest pains that had afflicted him for a week. Medical staff at the Howard County Detention Center instead gave Joseph Edward McGee, 38, Motrin in the infirmary, and guards put him on suicide watch alone in a cell, according to the police file released yesterday in response to a Sun records request.

Hot weather may trigger angina, a serious, painful heart condition that affects 6.8 million Americans, many of them over age 65. Summer activities often add to the difficulty. Here are tips from the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association: Hot weather can raise body temperature and lead to an increase in blood pressure and heart rate. Don't exercise in midday heat. Wear clothing that allows the body to "breathe" and body heat to evaporate. Exertion can bring on an angina attack, so patients who are already including moderate exercise in their routines should transition slowly into an outdoor exercise routine.