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Questions posted in the
Heart Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Question Title: Can "leakage of the heart" at age 3 cause valve problems at age 75?Forum: The Heart Forum
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A very high fever before the outbreak of measels at age 3 produced a "leakage of the heart" which kept me in a chair until age 4. I was not allowed to run and did not start school until age 8. I was not permitted on the playground during recess and, at high school age, was not allowed to participate in gym activities. At college, I ran the 100 yd and 220 yrd dash. Have lived an active life of long hours but not heavy physical labor. About five months ago, I began to experience an abrupt drainage of energy My family physician conducted a treadmill-electrocardiogram, told me there I have consistently low blood pressure -- about 108 to 124 over 68 to 73. My questions are: 2. What tests can best determine whether a valve problem exists? 3. If, in your opinion, my problems are not related to valve malfunction I will deeply appreciate your response.
Dear Newt, thank you for your question. The episode in your childhood sounds like rheumatic fever. In patients who have had rheumatic fever, the body makes antibodies against the bacteria that causes the infection which can sometimes cross react with the tissue of the cardiac valves. When this occurs, the valve leaflets become thickened and stenotic which disrupts normal flow through the valves. Most commonly, the aortic and mitral valves are affected. If you truly have valvular disease from a past episode of rheumatic fever, then your symptoms could be related to that. However, coronary artery disease is also a possibility, especially since your treadmill ECG was abnormal. In my opinion, the best test for you to have done would be a stress echocardiogram. An echo is an ultrasound of the heart that is the best test to diagnose valvular heart disease. During a stress echo, the patient exercises on a treadmill/bike while the images of the heart muscle are followed. If an area of the heart muscle is not getting enough blood due a coronary artery blockage, that would show up during this test. Additionally, a baseline echo is done before the stress images to image the valves. With the information from a stress echo, an accurate diagnosis could be made and appropriate treatment could be initiated. I hope you find this information useful. Please feel free to write back with more questions. Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies.
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