Heart Murmur Diagnosis?



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An Metet

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I mentioned to the dentist about having Scarlet Fever as a child and an innocent
murmur as a baby. Now they won't give me a cleaning without pre-medication
until I provide documentation saying that I don't have a heart murmur, or that
it is innocent.

I'm pretty sure I don't have a murmur, but they made it sound like something
I should be worried about.

The question is, should I just try and get some documentation from when I was
a baby that shows it was just an innocent murmur... or should I get my heart
looked at?

General practitioners have listened to my heart with a stethoscope in the past,
and I believe I had an EKG a few years ago. I don't recall ever hearing the
word murmur mentioned. So, if I were to schedule a visit, then I imagine I'd
have to see a cardiologist, since the GPs don't seem to find anything.

Thanks,

Allen Gere
 
I had an innocent murmur as a very young child. No doctors noticed it
as I grew up. When I reached about 40 or 50 the doctors began noticing
it again. Eventually I needed to have the valve replaced. I do not
think an EKG would detect a murmur. Probably and ultara sound
(echocardiogram) would detect it. A doctor with a stethoscope should
also be able to detect a murmur especially if they are looking for one.

--

Herb
Boulder, CO



"An Metet" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> NOTE: This message was sent thru a mail2news gateway.
> No effort was made to verify the identity of the sender.
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
> I mentioned to the dentist about having Scarlet Fever as a child and
an innocent
> murmur as a baby. Now they won't give me a cleaning without
pre-medication
> until I provide documentation saying that I don't have a heart murmur,
or that
> it is innocent.
>
> I'm pretty sure I don't have a murmur, but they made it sound like
something
> I should be worried about.
>
> The question is, should I just try and get some documentation from
when I was
> a baby that shows it was just an innocent murmur... or should I get my
heart
> looked at?
>
> General practitioners have listened to my heart with a stethoscope in
the past,
> and I believe I had an EKG a few years ago. I don't recall ever
hearing the
> word murmur mentioned. So, if I were to schedule a visit, then I
imagine I'd
> have to see a cardiologist, since the GPs don't seem to find anything.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Allen Gere
>
 
An Metet wrote:

> NOTE: This message was sent thru a mail2news gateway.
> No effort was made to verify the identity of the sender.
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
> I mentioned to the dentist about having Scarlet Fever as a child and an innocent
> murmur as a baby. Now they won't give me a cleaning without pre-medication
> until I provide documentation saying that I don't have a heart murmur, or that
> it is innocent.
>
> I'm pretty sure I don't have a murmur, but they made it sound like something
> I should be worried about.
>
> The question is, should I just try and get some documentation from when I was
> a baby that shows it was just an innocent murmur... or should I get my heart
> looked at?
>
> General practitioners have listened to my heart with a stethoscope in the past,
> and I believe I had an EKG a few years ago. I don't recall ever hearing the
> word murmur mentioned. So, if I were to schedule a visit, then I imagine I'd
> have to see a cardiologist, since the GPs don't seem to find anything.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Allen Gere

Scarlet fever is not associated with valvular heart disease. Perhaps there has been
some confusion with Rheumatic fever which can damage heart valves making them more
susceptible to infection even from a simple teeth cleaning. If your GP is confident
that there is no murmur and your EKG is normal, the dentist should be able to accept
a note from your GP that you can have the teeth cleaning without antibiotics.

--
Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Board-Certified Cardiologist
http://www.heartmdphd.com
 
On Sun, 9 Nov 2003 23:36:35 -0500, An Metet
<[email protected]> wrote:

>NOTE: This message was sent thru a mail2news gateway.
>No effort was made to verify the identity of the sender.
>--------------------------------------------------------
>
>I mentioned to the dentist about having Scarlet Fever as a child and an innocent
>murmur as a baby. Now they won't give me a cleaning without pre-medication
>until I provide documentation saying that I don't have a heart murmur, or that
>it is innocent.
>
>I'm pretty sure I don't have a murmur, but they made it sound like something
>I should be worried about.
>
>The question is, should I just try and get some documentation from when I was
>a baby that shows it was just an innocent murmur... or should I get my heart
>looked at?
>
>General practitioners have listened to my heart with a stethoscope in the past,
>and I believe I had an EKG a few years ago. I don't recall ever hearing the
>word murmur mentioned. So, if I were to schedule a visit, then I imagine I'd
>have to see a cardiologist, since the GPs don't seem to find anything.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Allen Gere
>

Are you sure it was Scarlet Fever. In 2000 I was told I must have had
Rheumatic Fever as a child as they were hearing murmurs. Sounds like
the dentist is being a bit over-cautious but unless you want to find a
different one you may have to have a cardiologist confirm that your
heart is fine and that you do not need prophylactic antibiotics before
dental treatment. I will always have to have antibiotics before
treatment, even cleaning. The heart can become infected
(endocarditis) if the teeth of a susceptial person are not taken care
of properly. This is why your dentist is being so cautious. Recently
I met a young man in a heart hospital I attend and the reason he was
there was a result of a routine visit to his dentist. He had ben an
in- patient for a couple of months. Diana
 
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