13 year old son has chest discomfort and irregular heart beat.

[shayg]

I took my son for physical for athletics. We told the doctor of his symptoms and so they did EKG (it was normal) and to be on safe side did an echo. The echo came back that he has Patent Foremen Ovale-secundum atrial septal defect with left to right shunt and Bicuspid aortic valve without any stenosis or regurgitation. We took him to a cardiologist(22yrs experience) and he said not to worry about the PFO, that it is very small. He said he did not have the Bav. He said he could see why the doctor that dictated the echo impression thought that(this doctor has 12yrs exp.)but he did not think he has a Bav. It was also stated by the doctor reading echo that he saw mild prolapsing and doming. My question is should we get a third opinion? How can two doctors have such different diagnosis? We need to feel secure and at peace. The doctor said no activity restriction and no follow up is needed. But we can't help but worry because of what the first doctor has put in his report. Can a normal valve look like a Bicuspid on an echo? Thanks for any help with this.

[momtofourboys]

hi there,
,my 4 year old son has a lengthy cardiac history, included a PFO(his is tiny as wel, however my little man has bi directional shunting at times) he is on no activity limitations at all, even with all of the other issues.
as far as the first doctor that told you the report about the possible BAV, if he is not a pediatric cardiologist then I can understand how he could read this wrong(if he is even a cardiologist) my little man (4 years old) just had a 24 hour holter done at the end of February and the doctor that read it is a cardiologist and said he had many many superventricluar tachy episodes, however that would be correct if my little guy was an adult however a little person's heart is different then an adults.
i am not saying this is what happened, just a thought. if this was my little guy, I would definately seek another opinion and make sure you bring a copy of this echo with you and the written findings so that the third doctor could compare as well.
the PFO should be of no concern, i couldn't tell you about the BAV
I can totaly undrstand when you say it is hard not to worry. even if things are okay, you will probablly still have that "worry" in the back of your mind. It isn't easy not to worry. if it were I probablly won't be having dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep worring
good luck and I hope you can get some answers soon.
michelle

[shayg]

Thank you for your input. The first doctor that read the echo was a pediatric cardiologist. This is one of the reasons we are worried. I think the BAV has risks of annyurisms and sudden death if the valve has stenosis or regurgitation. We will probably seek a third opinion since we have two specialists with different readings. He wants to play sports so we need to know. Good luck to you too. It sounds like your plate is full. I pray this all turns around for you.                                                                                 Shayg                

[momtofourboys]

then I would definately seek a third opinion.
good luck and I hope the first doctor is wrong and that everything is okay. make sure to bring both reports from both docotrs, maybe this doctor will be able to figure it out.
good luck and I hope he will be able to continue with his sports.
you have to go with your gut instincts if you feel thaat something is wrong keep pressing on.(I have had to do this for 3 years and finally with pictures of the proof they now see it and the holter finally picked it up. but if I hadn't kept pressing on then who knows where we would be right know always go with your gut nstinct.
michelle