Heart murmur?

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Hello,

Thinking about getting my PPL and work my way up to being able to fly private jets. I developed a heart murmur around age 15 (8 years ago), I was diagnosed by a physician with a stethoscope. Would I have to have an ECG? What are the chances of this holding me back?

While we are on the medical topic I imagine these are not a concern but just in case...

I also had an orbital blowout fracture (broken eye socket). No damage to my sight, and I can actually see better on that eye (both are better then 20/20).

I have also had 4 or 5 concussions.

Thanks in advance!
 
Unregistered said:
Hello,

Thinking about getting my PPL and work my way up to being able to fly private jets. I developed a heart murmur around age 15 (8 years ago), I was diagnosed by a physician with a stethoscope. Would I have to have an ECG? What are the chances of this holding me back?

While we are on the medical topic I imagine these are not a concern but just in case...

I also had an orbital blowout fracture (broken eye socket). No damage to my sight, and I can actually see better on that eye (both are better then 20/20).

I have also had 4 or 5 concussions.

Thanks in advance!
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The chance of your being " held back" are excellent. The Internet is not the place to answer it. Go to a heart specialist and find out for sure. And yes an EKG will probably be part of the checkup. They are quick and easy.
 
A heart murmur is a plumbing problem. What would you expect an ECG (which is for electrical problems, essentially) to tell you?

And sure, as part of a cardiac workup you would most assuredly GET an ECG.. But its not going to tell you a whole lot, if anything, about the murmur.

Plan on an Echocardiogram for that.
 
evapilotaz said:
4 or 5 concussions. Are you accident prone? If so flying is not for you. Good Luck.
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Given his inferred age of 23, I'm thinking either sports or a frying pan equipped wife.

But given that many times his bell has been rung, getting with a good AME will be key to ensure the wrong items or write up isn't sent in to increase the stickiness of the situation.
 
Thanks for the direction and advice. I wouldn't say accident prone, but yes the concussions are all from rugby with the exception of one due to snowboarding.
 
Give Bruce a call or send him an eMail. I had a similar question for him a few years ago and got sound, practical advice.

I wouldn't be worried about the murmur. No idea on the concussions.
 
Doggtyred said:
A heart murmur is a plumbing problem. What would you expect an ECG (which is for electrical problems, essentially) to tell you?

And sure, as part of a cardiac workup you would most assuredly GET an ECG.. But its not going to tell you a whole lot, if anything, about the murmur.

Plan on an Echocardiogram for that.
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Dear mr. " expert" get a life. You always get an ekg and they go from there. Some heart murmurs are benign , some are not . SVT is , for instance , not benign. You might get a holter monitor, maybe not. Wise to go to a good heart specialist instead of the Internet " specialists". Good health should come first.
 
Jimmy cooper said:
Dear mr. " expert" get a life. You always get an ekg and they go from there. Some heart murmurs are benign , some are not . SVT is , for instance , not benign. You might get a holter monitor, maybe not. Wise to go to a good heart specialist instead of the Internet " specialists". Good health should come first.
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And the EKG still won't tell you much if anything about the murmur :) Nor will a holter. Which is an EKG too. SVT is not a murmur. Its an arrhythmia. For which an EKG would be much much more helpful.

As I said earlier.. the EKG will get done. But don't expect it to say much, if anything, about a murmur. That will take other diagnostics. Those are matters of fact, not opinion.

I'd be more interested in discerning why the original poster appears concerned about having an ECG/EKG and what I perceived as apprehension regarding it. Is there a known problem thats not being disclosed? Or just apprehension about the unknown.
 
Jimmy cooper said:
Dear mr. " expert" get a life. You always get an ekg and they go from there. Some heart murmurs are benign , some are not . SVT is , for instance , not benign. You might get a holter monitor, maybe not. Wise to go to a good heart specialist instead of the Internet " specialists". Good health should come first.
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Whuut?
You got one thing correct. Some murmurs are benign and others are the result of structural heart problems.

Doggtyred said:
And the EKG still won't tell you much if anything about the murmur :) Nor will a holter. Which is an EKG too. SVT is not a murmur. Its an arrhythmia. For which an EKG would be much much more helpful.

As I said earlier.. the EKG will get done. But don't expect it to say much, if anything, about a murmur. That will take other diagnostics. Those are matters of fact, not opinion.

I'd be more interested in discerning why the original poster appears concerned about having an ECG/EKG and what I perceived as apprehension regarding it. Is there a known problem thats not being disclosed? Or just apprehension about the unknown.
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You are correct. A Holter is a continuous recording of a 3 lead ECG for 24 to 48 hours. It is designed to detect intermittent arrhythmias and I don't see where that is an issue for the OP. A cardiac evaluation usually includes an ECG which can show evidence of structural or electrical heart problems. An echocardiogram is usually necessary to evaluate a murmur although pediatric (and some adult) cardiologists can reliably diagnose benign or innocent murmurs in children and young adults.
 
Thanks for the follow up from a practicing cardiologist, Gary.

I will say this.. Im definitely not able to do much in identifying murmurs other than to say "its there" and "get an echo". I recognize my limitations.
 
the big thing about the concussions is
whether or not you have ever lost consciousness. That's a biggie with the FAA. the others are right talk to a cardiologist and give Dr Bruce a call
 
I have a cardiac-related special issuance and have a fair understanding of the way the FAA does special issuances. Get a diagnosis and see if it requires or is eligible for special issuance. The SI process is a bit of a pain initially but once established and assuming you have a cooperative physician it isn't hard to deal with.
 
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