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Old 16th Feb 2012, 07:18
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Nick Lee
 
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Heart murmurs

Hi Robbie
Heart murmurs are caused by turbulent blood flow through the valves of the heart. The first thing to do is to find out whether the turbulence is caused by a damaged heart valve and cardiologists do this with an echocardiogram which is a heart ultrasound scan. If there is no evidence of valve damage, then the murmur can be considered benign, and unrestricted certification is possible. If there is minor damage to a valve, then medical certification may still be possible if the heart is functioning normally, although periodic reviews may be necessary. However, anything more than minor damage will preclude certification.
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