Son has significant heart murmur

[the4Rs]

Our son went to a physical (well child check up) not long ago and when the doctor put the stethescope against his heart, she turned immediately to my husband who took him and said "He has a pronounced heart murmur. Did you know that?" Just so you know, we are not the type to take our kids for yearly well check-ups nor very often when they are sick so our son does not go often to the doc at all but he has had the same doctor since birth.

 

We cannot remember anyone ever telling us in the past that he had a heart murmur. She said she was not too concerned yet but that down the road we should be careful about allowing him to play an organized sport that will require a lot of exertion. She asked if we noticed that he tires easily running around, which we haven't noticed. But we hadn't really been paying attention to that.

 

She said she would refer us onto a specialist to find out more specifically what we are dealing with but she said that was up to us. She kept saying she wasn't too worried right now...so we said thanks but we'll wait to go to a specialist mostly because of her lack of immediate concern.

 

When we snuggle and I rest my hand or head on his chest, I feel/hear the abnormal rhythm of his heart beat...it is quite easy to detect now that we know what we are looking for.

 

Now I wonder if we should have him checked out more thoroughly. Any of you deal with a significant heart murmur in children? Would you recommend getting him checked out or should we just take the doc's cue and wait.

[EKS]

I don't mess around with heart stuff. I would take him to the specialist. If it turns out to be nothing to worry about then you'll have peace of mind. If it turns out to be something more then you have the information you need moving forward.

[speedmom4]

My youngest ds has three heart murmurs. They are also quite pronounced. We were sent to a cardiologist because of how unusual they sounded. The cardiologist did an EKG and then saw enough abnormality on that to do an echo. I was terrified. Turns out there is nothing wrong with dd's heart at all. I've never been so relieved in my whole life!

 

:grouphug: to you! I hope you see the cardiologist soon and that everything turns out fine!

 

God Bless,

Elise in NC

[mooooom]

My boys both had heart murmurs detected at around 4yrs old. We went to the specialist right away. They turned out to be innocent murmurs and nothing needed to be done, but we were very happy to "know". If he does have a specific problems, it would be helpful to know in advance - what if there was some kind of medical emergency? My understanding is that treatment might need to be approached differently.

Edited November 3, 2012 by mooooom

[Kim in Appalachia]

Your doctor is correct, in that it is probably nothing, or nothing can be done about it right now, but you should know what you are dealing with. If you have the insurance I would get it checked.

 

For what it's worth, I have a heart murmur, I've always had one, but I also had open heart surgery as a child. My cousin also has had open heart surgery and has a murmur, but it's different than mine. A friend of ours, a couple of years ago, dd started having issues while playing sports (she played basketball and swam), and they took her to a doctor. They discovered a murmur, which then led to the discovery of severe problems with her heart. She ended up needing surgery. She's now fine, and can play sports too.

 

I would get it checked.

[TN Mama]

My youngest was born with a heart murmur VSD (not a significant one) and we were referred to a pediatric cardiologist immediately upon discovery. She had testing and follow-up visits yearly until the hole closed on it's own a few years ago. She continues to have an innocent murmur.

 

I would most definitely have him checked out by a cardiologist. It's painless, but will give you peace of mind. :grouphug:

[LisaKinVA]

I wouldn't read, "I'm not worried right now" as an indication that one should do nothing in this case. It's more an indication that she didn't see the need to have him rushed to an ER.

 

When doctors use the term "significant" it means noticeably abnormal. The fact that you can notice it with your hand should be cause for alarm.

 

Doctors don't want parents to panic, and go off into worst-case scenarios. The doctor doesn't think he should be running around, and overly exerting himself. She advised a lot of caution in that regard.

 

:grouphug: This is something that should be seen to quickly. Your son may or may not be well. Please don't treat this as a "wait and see" scenario. If something should happen, you will never forgive yourself. If there is nothing wrong, you will know for certain.

[In The Great White North]

When we snuggle and I rest my hand or head on his chest, I feel/hear the abnormal rhythm of his heart beat...it is quite easy to detect now that we know what we are looking for.

 

A heart murmur and an abnormal rhythm are not the same thing. I can't believe she didn't want it checked more urgently.

 

She said she was not too concerned yet but that down the road we should be careful about allowing him to play an organized sport that will require a lot of exertion.

 

She's concerned enough to be willing to limit sports but not enough to get it checked out? That doesn't make sense.

[TXMomof4]

My grandpa was a thoracic surgeon. My parents had him check me when I was 5 because I did tire very easily and was short of breath all the time. He thought he heard a murmur. I remember having to go for every test known to man it seemed like. My poor parents were terrified. Turned out I had pneumonia. A quick course of antibiotics and I was good as new.

[boscopup]

Go get checked. My youngest recently had a murmur at the well check. We were sent to a pediatric cardiologist. He waved the wand over his heart, we saw cool pictures, and he said it was nothing. Phew! But had it been something, I'd have wanted to know. If it's nothing, you don't have to avoid sports and such.

 

I also have an innocent murmur. When they first heard it, they did an EKG and said it was nothing. Again, good to know.

[Isabella]

Get him checked, my brother was diagnosed with a murmer at 5yrs old, and had open heart surgery 3 times before age of 15.

[bethben]

My oldest was born with a hole in his heart. Usually kids who need surgery right away fail to thrive so just that your son made it through the first year means that it isn't a huge huge deal. On the other hand, in some instances, people with significant murmers do need to have antibiotics prior to dental procedures to rule out bacteria attaching itself to the inner walls of the heart. I think just that the doctor has given you a vague recommendation and that you are listening to his heart, you should see a specialist to know what you are really dealing with. It's most likely not a huge deal, but like other posters have said, you don't want to mess around with heart stuff.

 

Beth

[bzymom]

I would not wait and see with something so potentially serious, especially if your doc is warning you about potential trouble upon exertion. Much better to go and put your worries to rest than to wish you had.

[Mergath]

My mom, me, and dd all have heart murmurs, but even with the family history, we didn't fool around when they diagnosed dd's. She'll be fine, luckily, but when it comes to the heart, we don't take any chances.

 

And I agree with the pp who mentioned that a heart murmur isn't an irregular heartbeat. As I understand it, it's more of a whooshing sound after the beat as the blood leaks back into the wrong chamber of the heart, because the valves aren't functioning correctly.

[Melinda in VT]

My daughter had a heart murmur at 3 and based on her EKG, the pediatric cardiologist diagnosed her with a bicuspid aortic valve. (My daughter was too wiggly at that age for the ped cardiologist to even try an echo.)

 

A year or two later, we took her to a different pediatric cardiologist who did an echocardiogram and told us her heart was absolutely fine. It just sounds funny.

 

I'd get it checked out.

[Julie Smith]

I have always had a heart murmur.

[Harriet Vane]

You should most definitely get it checked. Having lived with ds' heart issues the first five years of his life, your dr's actions don't make sense to me. This is not a wait-and-see situation.

 

Do what it takes to get to a really good pediatric hospital. The difference in care and understanding of children's bodies is astounding. Have the full work-up done, especially an extended Holter monitor. With heart issues, they try to determine WHAT is causing the issue, WHERE it is located, and HOW OFTEN. You cannot know whether or not something is serious or nothing without being able to answer all these questions.

 

FWIW we had a good experience with Children's Memorial in Chicago. (I have no idea where you are located.)

[DianeW88]

I recommend that you take him to a pediatric cardiologist (I worked with one for years). Many, many children have heart murmurs. A lot of them are innocent, a lot are caused by something you don't have to worry about. A very small VSD (hole in the heart) will make a deafening heart murmur, but it has little to no significance on your child's health. However, an ASD generally needs to be corrected with surgery.

 

Here's the thing. Your pediactrician cannot tell you with an absolute degree of certainty what is causing the murmur by listening through a stethoscope. They can *think* it is an innocent murmur, but even the cardiologist won't know for sure without tests. Generally on the first visit, they will order an x-ray, and EKG and an ultrasound. All of these are non-invasive and they will give the doctor an accurate picture of your child's heart from which he can make a diagnosis. If you have a nearby children's hospital, I would call them for an appointment. Their doctors are fabulous and the facilities are top notch. If you're in the Denver area, I'm happy to give you a recommendation for an excellent pediatric cardiologist. ;)

[lluv]

I agree with PP-this isn't a wait and see situation. If only for your piece of mind, it is worth it. My oldest had a significant VSD and had to have surgery at 5 months old. He has seen ped cardiologist every year since. He is fine now but will always have a residual murmur. We make special trips to Shands Children's hospital every year because the level of care and knowledge is so far above our local ped. cardiologist (who misdiagnosed our son). I would get to the best ped. cardiologist I could, as soon as I could, just to be sure there is nothing to worry about.

[LeslieAnneLevine]

I think you should make an appt. now to get it checked out. They'll do an ultrasound and then you'll know for sure it's OK.

 

When my son went for his 2-year well visit, the pediatrician heard a murmur. She was sure it was nothing, but sent us to the pediatric cardiologist just in case. Within two weeks he had a heart operation because he had a serious issue that needed to be repaired asap.

 

Also, he had no symptoms whatsoever. He was extremely active at that age and showed no signs of having a health issue of any kind.

[Denisemomof4]

I would absolutely get it checked out and I wouldn't wait. I'd want my kid seen sooner rather than later.

 

At an annual check-up for dd12 (I don't remember how old she was, maybe 6?) we were sent right from the peds office to a cardiologist's office. During the drive I was on my cell getting our familial history of heart disease. The cardiologist heard her "extra click" and immediately ordered tests. We were told it would likely be one of two conditions, and it was a very, very scary time.

 

She ended up being fine. She has been through more tests and has seen two more cardiologists, but her heart is fine. She DOES have one condition which is treated by a cardiologist when necessary, she is not under treatment right now.

 

But please, don't wait on this. It is always better to err on the side of caution.:grouphug:

[ondreeuh]

Oh my gosh, take him to a pediatric cardiologist. Your ped cannot diagnose an "innocent" murmur with a stethoscope. Leaky valves or septal defects can lead to long term or permanent damage and you absolutely must get this evaluated with an echocardiogram.

[Denisemomof4]

You should most definitely get it checked. Having lived with ds' heart issues the first five years of his life, your dr's actions don't make sense to me. This is not a wait-and-see situation.

 

Do what it takes to get to a really good pediatric hospital. The difference in care and understanding of children's bodies is astounding. Have the full work-up done, especially an extended Holter monitor. With heart issues, they try to determine WHAT is causing the issue, WHERE it is located, and HOW OFTEN. You cannot know whether or not something is serious or nothing without being able to answer all these questions.

 

FWIW we had a good experience with Children's Memorial in Chicago. (I have no idea where you are located.)

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:On all counts.

[WiseOwlKnits]

I would get it checked.

 

DD has 3 heart defects, discovered at birth because of a significant murmur. I'm so glad that we know what her issues are and that they won't affect her quality of life. Incidentally, the cardiologist cleared her for any and all sports activities, but she has a list of activities that require prophylactic antibiotics to ensure that she doesn't get a heart valve infection.

 

I would find a good *pediatric* cardiologist and make an appointment ASAP.

[wapiti]

I was under the impression that referral to a cardiologist is the standard of care for new murmurs (often even for innocent/"functional" ones). I would definitely get it checked out.

 

My ds9's murmur was discovered at a well checkup a year and a half ago. We saw the ped cardiologist within a week. Oddly enough, the cause of the murmur is not a big deal (tiny VSD) but the rest that was discovered is (his big problem is genetic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and has significant activity restrictions. Hopefully it will not be a problem but possible consequences are serious. He is followed with annual testing).

 

I am surprised that the ped mentioned the possibility of restrictions without a diagnosis. That is what the cardiologist is for, but it depends entirely on the particular patient's diagnosis and current situation (note the occasional news articles about teen athletes having a sudden cardiac event on the athletic field).

 

It's important to rule out possible serious issues. Hopefully your ds will not turn out to have a significant issue and you can let it out of your mind. Peace of mind is important :)

Edited November 3, 2012 by wapiti

[QuirkyKidAcademy]

We aren't regular doctor-seers either, but I'd have him at a pedi cardiologist in a New York minute. Best wishes.

[SJ.]

Last year our ped noticed a murmur in my little guy. He referred us to a ped cardiologist and it ended up being nothing. One thing in particular I remembered about the appointment was the cardiologist explaining that a heart murmur just means that they hear an extra sound they don't normally hear and that most murmurs are not a problem. That being said, I would still want my dc to be checked out.

[TravelingChris]

:iagree: with all the people who urge you to go to a pediatric cardiologist. I have had two of my kids go to pediatric cardiologists. My son had a heart murmur that was deemed benign after testing when he was 2. Later on, he went to adult cardiologist when he was 18 and developed an arrythmia, which was also considered mainly benign but worth following up every once in a while. My older dd had tachycardia (Deemed benign) and the cardiologist then found mitral valve prolapse. That condition is normally benign but in about 5% of the cases, requires surgery later on. So she still sees cardiologists every few years to check on that.

[LindaOz]

I recommend that you take him to a pediatric cardiologist (I worked with one for years). Many, many children have heart murmurs. A lot of them are innocent, a lot are caused by something you don't have to worry about. A very small VSD (hole in the heart) will make a deafening heart murmur, but it has little to no significance on your child's health. However, an ASD generally needs to be corrected with surgery.

Agreeing with the small VSD=loud murmur. My oldest dd had a very small murmur, so small that her GP didn't pick it up. However, when she seemed to have a cold at 2 months old, another doc heard a small murmur and sent us for tests immediately. It turned out that she had multiple VSD's including one that was very large. It was the 'largeness' of the biggest hole that actually made the murmur harder to hear. Dd had to have two heart surgeries.

 

The fact that your son has a 'significant' heart murmur 'could' be a good sign that there is not a major problem. But it is always worth while checking it out just to be sure. We have had a number of our other children also checked out by our pediatric cardiologist, often just for peace of mind. One had an ASD that needed monitoring, but then began closing on its own. It's good to check things like that out...

Edited November 3, 2012 by LindaOz

[A.Balaban]

On the other hand, in some instances, people with significant murmers do need to have antibiotics prior to dental procedures to rule out bacteria attaching itself to the inner walls of the heart.

 

 

This is no longer correct. Antibiotics are no longer recommended. As far as I know, the recommendations were changed in 2008 or earlier.

 

I have a heart murmur and mitro valve prolapse- I have had it all my life. I was followed by a pediatric cardiologist, and routinely had EKG and echos done to confirm that the condition was not getting worse. Every pregnancy, I have to get it checked out too, because pregnancy puts strain on your heart. Now I go every couple years just to check it out.

 

My son has a murmur - it is known as a "working murmur" (or something of the sort!) and he was referred to a pediatric cardiologist and no problems were detected. My daughter actually, I remember, had a cardiologist check her while she was in the newborn nursery. There was a chance she was going to have to stay longer to run issues because a significant mumur was detected. Everything resolved itself.

 

I would just ask for a referral, and get him checked out... but I wouldn't freak out too much. If he is not having any symptoms, then he is probably fine.

 

With my son, his murmur wasn't detected until he was almost two years old. I was very hesitant to agree with Dr. because he spent time in NICU and there was no murmur. We'd go to one Dr's appt and they would ask "Does your son have a murmur?" and then at the next one tehre would be no mention of it... and six months later same question. We finally relented to get it checked out and it was nothing.

[wapiti]

This is no longer correct. Antibiotics are no longer recommended. As far as I know, the recommendations were changed in 2008 or earlier.

Perhaps it depends on the specific type of underlying heart condition (or on the specific dentist, lol). Only last year, our ped dentist needed a letter from the cardiologist's office that antibiotics were not necessary prior to dental work for my ds - they would not take my word for it and would not even start his cleaning until the cardiologist had faxed it.

 

I would just ask for a referral, and get him checked out... but I wouldn't freak out too much. If he is not having any symptoms, then he is probably fine.

 

Just to be extra clear, while I totally agree that there is no need for freaking out, having no current symptoms can be deceptive with certain types of conditions (i.e., with such conditions, sometimes the first "symptom" may be too late).

[Harriet Vane]

This is no longer correct. Antibiotics are no longer recommended. As far as I know, the recommendations were changed in 2008 or earlier.

 

. . .

 

I would just ask for a referral, and get him checked out... but I wouldn't freak out too much. If he is not having any symptoms, then he is probably fine.

 

 

This is not the case across the board at all. I had to get specific permission from my ds' cardiologist for several dental procedures.

 

Also, the lack of symptoms has no bearing at all on whether or not there is a problem. There are many heart conditions that do not manifest clear symptoms until it's too late. For heart problems, lab tests really are the standard to rely on for proper understanding and diagnosis.

[Alice]

Our son went to a physical (well child check up) not long ago and when the doctor put the stethescope against his heart, she turned immediately to my husband who took him and said "He has a pronounced heart murmur. Did you know that?" Just so you know, we are not the type to take our kids for yearly well check-ups nor very often when they are sick so our son does not go often to the doc at all but he has had the same doctor since birth.

 

We cannot remember anyone ever telling us in the past that he had a heart murmur. She said she was not too concerned yet but that down the road we should be careful about allowing him to play an organized sport that will require a lot of exertion. She asked if we noticed that he tires easily running around, which we haven't noticed. But we hadn't really been paying attention to that.

 

She said she would refer us onto a specialist to find out more specifically what we are dealing with but she said that was up to us. She kept saying she wasn't too worried right now...so we said thanks but we'll wait to go to a specialist mostly because of her lack of immediate concern.

 

When we snuggle and I rest my hand or head on his chest, I feel/hear the abnormal rhythm of his heart beat...it is quite easy to detect now that we know what we are looking for.

 

Now I wonder if we should have him checked out more thoroughly. Any of you deal with a significant heart murmur in children? Would you recommend getting him checked out or should we just take the doc's cue and wait.

 

This doesn’t really make sense. As a pediatrician we often hear murmurs in kids and most pediatricians are fairly comfortable with the way certain innocent murmurs sound. But if it is innocent then there is no reason to take any precautions during sports. And if it sounds louder or more unusual than it may not be innocent and should be checked out.

 

Also an abnormal heart rhythm and a murmur are two different things so if you are detecting an abnormal rhythm that might be something else to be checked.

 

Based on what you said, I’d get him checked out. It’s still likely that it is innocent or that it is something relatively minor but it’s probably worth being checked out if it’s being described as “significant†or if you hear an abnormal rhythm.

[LeslieAnneLevine]

 

I would just ask for a referral, and get him checked out... but I wouldn't freak out too much. If he is not having any symptoms, then he is probably fine.

 

 

I agree, he probably IS fine. I also agree to get it checked out now to be sure. In my son's case, an absence of symptoms didn't mean anything--his murmur wasn't innocent and he needed surgery. I wouldn't worry, but I would see the specialist.

[LMV]

A pediatric cardiology attending I liked as a student used to say that you could think of murmurs as noisy blood. Some people (like kids with Venous hums) just have noisy blood. But sometimes people have noisy blood because there is turbulent flow. Sometimes they have a valve that is abnormally formed, infected, or just doesn't open or shut properly. Or sometimes there are communications that were meant to close but didn't (like patent ductus arteriosus or foramen ovale) and sometimes there are communications between the heart chambers that aren't really meant to be there at all (like Ventricular and Atrial Septal defects etc). So yes, murmurs can be perfectly benign and even murmurs that are due to an abnormality may not be disabling.

 

If this was my child I would want to know which/what we were dealing with. So I'd want this worked up further. Our kids pediatrician is amazing and our pediatric cardiologists are really busy so I'd probably be ok with her ordering the EKG, Echo, and Chest X-ray and going from there. Other places pediatricians aren't comfortable doing the initial workup and that's ok too. I also realize that at some hospitals you can't order pediatric echos without permission from cardiology so pediatricians may be limited more by hospital politics than their own training.

 

This is no longer correct. Antibiotics are no longer recommended. As far as I know, the recommendations were changed in 2008 or earlier.

 

You are mostly correct. AHA did revise their guidelines for SBE prophylaxis in 2008 and with this revision they did relax them a lot and stop prophylaxing groups that were previously prophylaxed. They also stopped advocating prophylaxis prior to GI/GU procedures. For dental work (and in a few other situations more complicated than relevant here) we do still prophylax those with:

-Prior endocarditis

-Prosthetic valves

-Unrepaired Complex Congenital Heart Disease

-Repaired Congenital Heart Disease with residual defects at the site

-Heart Transplant patients with valve disease

-Completely repaired Congenital Heart Disease less than six months out from their repair surgery

[Amber in AUS]

Get it checked by a cardiologist as soon as you can. My son is a heart kid.

[FaithManor]

This doesn’t really make sense. As a pediatrician we often hear murmurs in kids and most pediatricians are fairly comfortable with the way certain innocent murmurs sound. But if it is innocent then there is no reason to take any precautions during sports. And if it sounds louder or more unusual than it may not be innocent and should be checked out.

 

Also an abnormal heart rhythm and a murmur are two different things so if you are detecting an abnormal rhythm that might be something else to be checked.

 

Based on what you said, I’d get him checked out. It’s still likely that it is innocent or that it is something relatively minor but it’s probably worth being checked out if it’s being described as “significant†or if you hear an abnormal rhythm.

 

 

Listen to Alice! Our eldest son has a tricuspid valve prolapse that our pediatrician caught. He referred us to a pediatric cardiologist and I am so thankfuly we went. Ds is fine. He's stable and it's a functional "murmur" that he can just live with. But, some tricuspid valve prolapses are life-threatening and had we not put him under the care of the cardiologist for monitoring and then something awful had happened, I don't think I could have forgiven myself.

 

The visit is easy. The pedi cardiologists very rarely ever have to do to anything "painful"...the worst is the occasional cardiac enzyme check. As the nurse put it, "We are every child's favorite pediatric specialty because they come in here and we put cool wires all over them, they get to lay still and watch the monitor do cool thing, the doc ultrasounds their heart while they watch a disney movie, and then their done. Only our worst cases have to have surgery, and frankly, the big bad surgeon and the nurses at the hospital have to cause them pain. So, we are pretty well liked around here." This has been true for ds (who was recently released from monitoring unless we ever have a concern). He loves the cardiologist!

 

Though ds's prolapse is concered moderate to moderately severe, his level of activity was never restricted. Actually, the only thing we were cautioned about was that he might not feel well in high altitude/thinner air situations and to have him take prophylactic anti-biotics before dental work and his cardiologist says he know longer needs that!

 

Don't worry until you are given something to worry about. Also, with kids, some have more muscle tissue across their chest walls than others. The skinny, non-muscular kids can have a murmur sound much worse to the listening ear than it really is because it can be heard so much easier. That was the case with DS. His was so loud to our pediatrician that he was literally worried that ds was in a life-threatening situation and got us an appointment the very, same day with the specialist because ds had recently had strep throat and had a hard time getting over it - I think the doc was afraid he'd actually had a mild rheumatic or scarlett fever. At any rate, his bloodwork was good and he's now a strapping young man, strong, and bikes 12 miles a day in good weather.

 

:grouphug: Faith

[tex-mex]

My youngest ds has three heart murmurs. They are also quite pronounced. We were sent to a cardiologist because of how unusual they sounded. The cardiologist did an EKG and then saw enough abnormality on that to do an echo. I was terrified. Turns out there is nothing wrong with dd's heart at all. I've never been so relieved in my whole life!

 

:grouphug: to you! I hope you see the cardiologist soon and that everything turns out fine!

 

God Bless,

Elise in NC

:iagree:

 

See the cardiologist. Get the EKG, echo, x-ray or 24 hour wrist band... whatever is needed to see what is going on. It is scary, but you hopefully will get a better idea of what is going on with ds. :grouphug:

[kalanamak]

Get it checked by a cardiologist as soon as you can. My son is a heart kid.

 

Old time docs or docs who were trained in some other countries really KNOW murmurs. Here we rely on ECHOs and most docs are not as good at murmurs as docs were 50 years ago. Go to a cardiologist.

 

If you feel the buzz of the murmur on his chest wall, this is called a "thrill" and it means business.

[Stayseeliz]

I haven't read all the previous posts but I'd get it checked out for sure. A friend of mine has a murmur and she is fine but there are some special things she has to do. She needs lots of rest, she can't gain weight because she can't get her heart rate up easily, pregnancy was very hard on her, etc. There are waysd to deal with it but you guys need to be careful.

[Farrar]

My boys both had heart murmurs detected at around 4yrs old. We went to the specialist right away. They turned out to be innocent murmurs and nothing needed to be done, but we were very happy to "know". If he does have a specific problems, it would be helpful to know in advance - what if there was some kind of medical emergency? My understanding is that treatment might need to be approached differently.

 

Ditto. One of my boys had the same experience and I'm also glad that if he ever has an emergency and they hear it, I can explain that it's been fully checked out.

[A.Balaban]

You are mostly correct. AHA did revise their guidelines for SBE prophylaxis in 2008 and with this revision they did relax them a lot and stop prophylaxing groups that were previously prophylaxed. They also stopped advocating prophylaxis prior to GI/GU procedures. For dental work (and in a few other situations more complicated than relevant here) we do still prophylax those with:

-Prior endocarditis

-Prosthetic valves

-Unrepaired Complex Congenital Heart Disease

-Repaired Congenital Heart Disease with residual defects at the site

-Heart Transplant patients with valve disease

-Completely repaired Congenital Heart Disease less than six months out from their repair surgery

 

Thank you for the correction. I knew there were still some circumstances that required antibiotics.

[kalanamak]

Thank you for the correction. I knew there were still some circumstances that required antibiotics.

 

And there are plenty of CYA dentists who still want "clearance" and/or antibiotics the moment you mention anything heart. Old habits die hard. I know one dentist I have faxed the new guidelines to about a half a dozen times. :)

[Amy in NH]

Definitely get an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist.

 

We have always been up to date with our kids doctor's appointments. We moved around a bit when they were young. When my 15yo was about 4 a new doctor heard a murmur. It takes the right ear sometimes, or a large enough heart. It turned out to be a bicuspid valve which we have assessed every few years. He is allowed to play all sorts of sports. He was in the group that was previously given prophylactic antibiotics, but no longer is.

 

My niece had to have a valve replacement when she was ~15yo. It was to fix a problem that was diagnosed at birth. She always played sports, and continued to after she had healed from the surgery. She played DDR while healing, to get her strength back.

[sbgrace]

When my son was around that age he had a murmer detected too. The pediatrician told me it sounded unconcerning to her. She actually went into detail about what she heard and what it probably meant though I can't remember the detail now. Anyway, she still wanted it checked out by cardiology to make sure it was not an alternative cause of the specific sound. He had an echo that week and it was exactly what she had thought. I've never given it another thought.

 

Anyway, I think it's strange the doctor thought it concerning enough to restrict activity in the future and yet nothing to be checked out.

[Denisemomof4]

Old time docs or docs who were trained in some other countries really KNOW murmurs. Here we rely on ECHOs and most docs are not as good at murmurs as docs were 50 years ago. Go to a cardiologist.

 

If you feel the buzz of the murmur on his chest wall, this is called a "thrill" and it means business.

 

i'm glad you said this. I was very concerned that she could FEEL his murmer.

[Tap]

When presented with the same issue in Dd5, we had her checked out by a specialist. Her murmur is innocent, but the peace of mind is invaluable to me as a parent.

 

With her murmur, only certain doctors can hear it. Her old ped couldn't hear it, but a fill in dr did. Then when I mentioned it at another visit with her ped at a follow up visit, he said the fill in dr was wrong, no murmur. I let it go at that point and didn't think about it again.

 

We switched doctors that year, and the new doctor can hear it plain as day. I felt a bit bad that I had not pushed the first dr a bit on finding out what the fill in doc had heard. LOL The echo confirmed it, so it isn't a coincidence.

 

Her current doctor also told me that sometimes they can only hear the murmur when the child has a fever or is sick, because it becomes more obvious during those times.

Edited November 4, 2012 by Tap, tap, tap

[Carol in Cal.]

When you see that specialist, make sure it is a pediatric specialist.

DD had a weird heart thing when she was very young. She had an EKG, and the adult cardiologist thought there was something quite wrong. The pediatric cardiologist said that it was normal for a child's reading. What a relief, but it was a tough couple of weeks waiting for that second appointment.

[the4Rs]

Thank you to ALL of you who responded! I was gone all day to a family function but I really do appreciate your sound advice.

 

I am not overly worried at all but just wanting to make sure we are doing the right thing for him. I didn't want to overreact nor refuse to act at all if necessary.

 

I may not have explained what I hear/feel when we snuggle very well...if he has been running around or anything that gets the blood pumping harder and he comes to cuddy with me which is often (since he is ALL boy and only 6)... his heart is beating loudly and I can hear the abnormal wooshing sound quite easily.... I am not sure if what I feel is just the heart beating harder or part of the blood wooshing abnormally...I don't really know how to explain it other than it sounds odd to me. But I am not a cardiologist....so who knows.

 

My husband apparently has a very mild heart murmur and so does my MIL. So are heart murmurs genetic? My husband's is so mild, it is almost nonexistent. My MIL's was slightly more pronounced than husband's but never a problem for her. But our son's is quite pronounced.

 

I will call our doc on Monday and see about getting a referral. I am believing he'll probably be fine but you are right, we ought to know what we are dealing with for sure from a ped. cardiologist.

[Tap]

When you see that specialist, make sure it is a pediatric specialist.

DD had a weird heart thing when she was very young. She had an EKG, and the adult cardiologist thought there was something quite wrong. The pediatric cardiologist said that it was normal for a child's reading. What a relief, but it was a tough couple of weeks waiting for that second appointment.

 

:iagree: DD14s primary doctor sent us to a pediatric cardiologist last winter after a 'borderline' ekg. Once we were at the cardio, we found out that her reading was normal for a 13yo, not borderline. She had fainted, so we would have still taken her, but it would have saved me hours of study and worry about ekg results, and trying to learn what I could about them before the appointment.