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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
Aorta Valve
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests.
Aorta Valve
by Loraine__0__0, Mar 01, 1999 12:00AM
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.
Doctor's Answer
by CCF CARDIO MD DLB, Mar 01, 1999 12:00AM
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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.
