Heart Murmur

amd87

Well-Known Member
I was reading through an article the other day, and it began to describe Flight Physicals. A topic came up about heart murmurs, and it sounded like it was saying that heart murmurs don't allow you to obtain a medical. Is this true? I am currently a high school student looking into aviation as a career. I have had a heart murmur for as long as I can remember, but never experience any side effects from it such as shortness of breath or chest pains. Could this possibly block my chance of getting the medical?
Thanks
 
Heart murmurs are wierd things....It's like a leaky valve in the heart....Doesn't mean much, I had one and then one year the doc said he couldn't detect it...No murmur..
I think it may be disqualifying, in my case the AME never heard it so no problem.
 
I had a heart murmur when I was 16 when I got my first flight physical.

The doc did some research on it and figured out that a lot of black males have congenital heart mumurs in their late teens. I got a first class medical after the research and it naturally went away a few years later.

Probably shouldn't be a problem, but check into it.

It didn't stop me as far as I've seen!
smile.gif
 
That's good news to hear. Im currently 16 and for my past few physicals, my doc hasn't talked about any strange murmur, which is very good since my last physical was with a different doctor. Next time I go in I will just ask about it.
Thanks again
 
Just to somewhat elaborate on Baronman's statement...a murmur is not necessarily a leaky valve. There are several causes a couple of which are backflow between chambers ("leaky valve") and a hole between chambers (generally not good!). Just FYI.
 
I am an 18 year old in college, and a doctor here recently discovered a small murmur. After going through the entire cardiologist bit with ECG's, a stress test, some chest x-rays, and an echocardiogram, it has been deemed that my mitral valve is a little thicker than it should be, creating the noise. However, my heart works perfectly fine with no regurgitation. If the AME can hear it, would it be a problem, given the fact that a cardiologist has given my heart the stamp of approval?

Realms
 
I'm no expert when it comes to the certification part, but from what I understand, you'll need a letter from the cardiologist sent to the FAA. A good AME will listen to your heart, and say hmmm...I can't seem to hear a murmur, and let you check 'no' on that question! If you have some concerns about not getting your medical there are services out there to help you jump through all the hoops. One of them is Left Seat I believe they charge a fee for their services, but it's something to think about.
 
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