Need Information

  My 15 year old son, Ben, had a severe burning in his left chest on Friday am that lasted about 90 minutes.  He said it was like heart burn only 100 times worse and in a different place.  When he came home from school he was laying on the bed on his left side when he heard his heart start ticking.  It grew louder and louder.  In a little while his mother came home from work and he called her to his room and told her about the ticking.  She could hear it when she stood by the bed.  The ticking or clicking became so loud you could hear it from several feet away.
  We took him to the ER, they did a chest xray, echo, and ekg.  The xray and ekg were normal.  The technician with the echo indicated a problem with the mitral valve.  The ER DR called a cardiologist and they came to the conclusion his condition was not life threatening and sent us home with orders to follow-up.  The Er DR bascially said because he could not find anything else, he would have to say it is mitral valve prolapse.  This was not a comforting diagnosis.  We felt it was a "Well this is the last idea I have so it must be it."  The cardio did not come to the hospital.  
  The next day, Ben complains of chest pain such as pressure, and when the heart "clicks" he says in hurts, more than before.  We are working to get him into Shands in Gainseville Fl, but we must wait for authorization unless it is a dire emergency, (HMO thanks).
  Ben is a healthy athletic teenager with no problems other than kidney stones, (Surgical removal July 98).  We are scared parents.  Should we wait?  Is he critcal?  Have you ever heard of someone's heart clicking so loud in can be heard by all in the room and even those you talk to on the phone.  Please, give me come comfort.
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Dear Noland
Untreated rheumatic fever used to produce heart murmurs of such intensity that they could be heard across the room - this is an unlikely event in modern America. Mitral valve prolapse can cause a click that is audible with a stethoscope - but not from across the room. I can think of no condition originating from the heart that your wife could have heard from across the room. Please do write back if anyone does figure this out.
I hope this has been useful. Feel free to write back with further questions. Good luck.
Information provided here is of a general nature.  Specific diagnoses and treatments can only be made by your doctor.  If you would like to be seen at the Cleveland Clinic, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE for an appointment with a cardiologist at Desk F15.