Grade 1 diastolic dysfunction... is this disqualifying

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SACsky

Filing Flight Plan
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Ewaf1009
Before I reach out to my AME I wanted to see if anyone is familiar with this. I have a very minimal heart murmur that occurred during pregnancy. It never went away unfortunately. I went to have it checked by a cardiologist so I could make sure 1. It was okay 2. Make sure it wouldn't be an issue for my medical.

The ECG came back showing I have grade 1 diastolic dysfunction. I saw the cardiologist yesterday and she said it is from pre-eclampsia (I had suffered from severe postpartum pre-eclampsia). She said the pre-eclampsia changed my heart structure, but nothing to be alarmed about. She also said the murmur is of no concern and is extremely faint. She's having me do a stress test ECG, another EKG and labs in the next few weeks to make sure all is good due to having "bad genes". My dad has heart issues... She has me on a Mediterranean diet from now until the testing is done so I'll be "at my best" when I go for the stress test and labs.

Is this going to be an issue when I go to apply for my medical? I do have an AME and will be reaching out, but wanted to check here first before going on record with them about it all and see if anyone has dealt with this and or knows of it's disqualifying?
 
Murmurs in and of themselves aren’t disqualifying but may require a special issuance.
 
SACsky: I am hoping you did not have a seizure with the "severe" of the preeclampsia because that is an FAA rabbit hole (the neurologic eval pathway).

Given not that above, Stiffening of the relaxation peiord of the myocardimum in and of itself is NOT disqualifying, but diastolic heart fialure is. It's about "degrees".
 
bbchien said:
SACsky: I am hoping you did not have a seizure with the "severe" of the preeclampsia because that is an FAA rabbit hole (the neurologic eval pathway).

Given not that above, Stiffening of the relaxation peiord of the myocardimum in and of itself is NOT disqualifying, but diastolic heart fialure is. It's about "degrees".
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Thank you Dr. Chien. Fortunately no seizure. I say severe because my OB dismissed the symptoms for a week, which when it finally got bad enough I landed in the ER with an extremely high BP, but got in before having a stroke or seizure (ER doc said it was a miracle I made it that far). I had fluid gathered around my heart. Hospitalized 3 days, put on mag drip, had an echo and all ended up being okay minus the grade 1 diastolic dysfunction I'm left with today.
 
I would retain someone like Dr Bruce and ensure the tests you’re having in a few weeks are the tests aeromedical may require to evaluate your condition.
 
Good luck with all that. I am impressed with your cardiologist btw. Don’t think many know about the association with preeclampsia and diastolic dysfunction, and even fewer diagnosis diastolic dysfunction by EKG. Typically is an echocardiogram diagnosis. That is “graduate” level stuff. Just make sure she or your PMD never accidentally say diastolic heart failure, which for some is synonomous with diastolic dysfunction. I see that all the time where people use the term diastolic heart failure, or more commonly HFpEF (heart failure with preserved ejection fraction) from an echo interpretation, without the clinical condition of heart failure.
 
SACsky said:
Thank you Dr. Chien. Fortunately no seizure. I say severe because my OB dismissed the symptoms for a week, which when it finally got bad enough I landed in the ER with an extremely high BP, but got in before having a stroke or seizure (ER doc said it was a miracle I made it that far). I had fluid gathered around my heart. Hospitalized 3 days, put on mag drip, had an echo and all ended up being okay minus the grade 1 diastolic dysfunction I'm left with today.
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Whew. And the post from "rockymountain" from Ogden UT is right on point.
 
Rockymountain said:
Good luck with all that. I am impressed with your cardiologist btw. Don’t think many know about the association with preeclampsia and diastolic dysfunction, and even fewer diagnosis diastolic dysfunction by EKG. Typically is an echocardiogram diagnosis. That is “graduate” level stuff. Just make sure she or your PMD never accidentally say diastolic heart failure, which for some is synonomous with diastolic dysfunction. I see that all the time where people use the term diastolic heart failure, or more commonly HFpEF (heart failure with preserved ejection fraction) from an echo interpretation, without the clinical condition of heart failure.
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Oh my apologies I didn't even realize ekg and ecg are the same thing doh! I typed this up so quick. I did an Echocardiogram initially and that's how she found the diastolic dysfunction. I have my health summary and med notes on me and the diagnosis is stated just as Grade 1 Diastolic Dysfunction. Thank you for the advice I'll reach out to my AME and see what all they'll want from her and the other tests she's doing. Also I had no idea about the connection either, my mind was blown when she told me and I then did some research (aka googling lol). I was very grateful when she told me that is where it came from. When I initially was hospitalized for the postpartum pre-eclampsia I had an echo done then and didn't have it. Read it will occur after having pre-eclampsia. Crazy.
 
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