Heart Valve Screening

Should screening for heart valve disease be routine? Should you wait until you have symptoms and need surgery?

Today it was reported that Robin Williams (the famous Mork) will be having surgery on his aortic heart valve. Yesterday former First Lady, Barbara Bush, had surgery for aortic valve disease. Both were reported as having shortness of breath. Mrs. Bush also had dizziness. Other signs and symptoms may include chest pain, fast heart beat, weakness, and leg swelling.

As with many conditions, there may not be any symptoms. This would be reason enough to consider routine preventive screening with an echocardiogram of the heart. This test shows the heart valves very well. It also assesses heart function. The echo, as it is called for short, is a great test for looking at the heart. It uses the same technique as a sonogram for pregnancy

The best news of all is that the ehco is noninvasive - no needles! It is done quickly in less than thirty minutes. It is also affordable.
These are supporting reasons for making this test a part of routine preventive screening. It is so easy!

Talk to your primary care physician and cardiologist. See what is best for you.