Comments on: Physical Exam: Have a Little Heart

By: 2001: A Link Odyssey « Adventures of a Funky Heart!

2001: A Link Odyssey « Adventures of a Funky Heart! — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 03:00:55 +0000

[...] we close with another gem from Dr. Rob, who describes a pediatric heart exam with wit and humor! Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Diseases, Conditions and [...]

By: Points of Interest, #33 « Mind, Soul, and Body

Points of Interest, #33 « Mind, Soul, and Body — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:43:25 +0000

[...] At Musings of a Distractible Mind, Dr. Rob, a fellow “connoisseur of the infant,” continues his humorous, yet educational look at the physician examination of the baby, this time going in depth into matters of the heart. [...]

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:44:36 +0000

Holly: Many people are diagnosed with anxiety, only to be found later to have SVT.

Anna: My suspicion is that it was the ears, not the scopes. If you don’t slow down and really listen, you will miss things. My partner had an electronic stethoscope and it was too sensitive. He heard murmurs and bruits that were not there. I have a mid-range scope that does fine for me.

By: Anna

Anna — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:32:17 +0000

In February of this year my husband had a cough which would not go away. Over the course of three weeks he went to three different physicians – each physician listened to his heart and lungs and claimed he simply had a cold. Two days after the last doctor visit and worried about my husband’s increasingly deteriorating condition, I talked him into going to my primary care physician. After listening to his heart for 30 seconds she scheduled him for an immediate chest xray and echo as she didn’t like how his lungs weren’t filling all the way with air, nor the loud murmur. Ten days later, he was on the table undergoing OHS to replace his mitral valve and repair the tricuspid valve; both of which were regurgitating at 70%.

We were shocked that three physicians could not hear what one doctor could. After discussing the case with a friend who is a physician, his immediate thought was that the cause was due to the type of stethoscope the other doctors were using. His oncology practice began to purchase high-end stethoscopes (NOT the ones with electronics) for hospital nursing staff because the less expensive ones they were using “were no better than what you get out of a Fisher Price doctor’s kit”.

I thoroughly enjoy your Physical Exam primers but thought you may want to include a mention under “Listening Devices” that with something so important as a stethoscope, you get what you pay for.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:47:51 +0000

an informative yet easy-to-understand post, as always!

By: Holly

Holly — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:11:44 +0000

I also had SVT and had my heart rate was clocked at 220. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 19, but I always had it at various times growing up. It was typically dismissed as panic attacks (which naturally came after my SVT episodes) but I finally was recommended to a good cardiologist. One ablation later, and I’m fine. Scary stuff though, especially for a teenager.