The textbook presentation of myocardial infarction (MI) is not difficult to recognize but in the undifferentiated world of primary care presentations it can be far from clear. This difficulty is compounded by the sex and ethnicity of the patient and the presence of comorbidities such as diabetes. Women are often older than men at hospitalisation for MI and present less frequently with chest pain. It is generally accepted that patients without chest pain tend to present later and are treated less aggressively than those presenting with more typical symptoms. Furthermore, those presenting without pain have almost twice the short-term mortality rate.