Aorta Valve

  I have recently been diagnosed with a heart murmur in the aortic valve that is being  caused by a "roughness" in the lining of the valve.  Have you ever heard of this?
  Also, I was taken off of Atenolol (cold turkey) and within two weeks I experienced shortness of breath, rapid heart beat, rise in blood pressure and anxiety attacks.  This was the reason for having an EKG and Echogram because of the fast heart beat I was experiencing.  Now I am back on the Atenolol and all is fine.  Any comment on this?  Thank you.

[CCF CARDIO MD DLB]

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Dear Lorraine
Sometimes an aortic valve, or any valve, can be thickened and cause turbulent blood flow around it. This can lead to an abnormal heart sound called a heart murmur. As long as the valve is not stenotic (too tight) or leaking, the valve thickening usually does not cause any problems.
I generally do not recommend stopping medications like atenolol abruptly because the body gets used to having it around. Suddenly stopping this medicine, especially a high dose, can lead to an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. In patients with underlying coronary artery disease this can cause worsening angina (chest pains) and potentially trigger a heart attack.
I hope this has been useful. I wish you the best of luck.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter.   The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.