Just went to renew the medical and was denied due to a heart murmur. She told me that I need to call the FAA, and that they will want an echo cardiogram. Supposed to start a trip tonight. I guess Ill call in sick and talk to the chief when I can. Any one with any advice or experience?

There are common and benign heart rhythm irregularities. Most folks have them occasionally, some folks more often.

If you have one once a day or once per hour, you might have just gotten unlucky that it popped up during the ten seconds of the EKG.

The FAA will at least require a 24-hour diagnostic test where you were a monitor which records your heart rhythm. If your murmur is infrequent and of the right type, they will give you an unrestricted medical. It's possible that you might need beta-blocker meds, but they are approved for flight use, and more than a few older guys use them.

However...usually the AME can issue a medical pending the outcome of the test. Since it is possible that you have a serious condition, do not delay seeing your regular doctor.

You probably want to contact one of the professional aviation medical consultants to help you with this process.

I wasnt during an EKG (Im 25), she heard it while listening with a stethoscope. She listened while i was laying down, standing, sitting, and squatting. She could only hear it when I was laying down and squatting. She said no medical though. Im more than a little freaked out right now.

For what it’s worth I got a 1st class for 19 years with a sever heart murmur. I was told in most cases the murmur is cased by a valve that does not close or open completely. The heart will then build muscle to push the blood harder to overcome this “leaky” valve. This building of muscle closes the passageway through that area (slowly) The FAA has limits on how much “closure” is allowable and I think it is 1cm, a normal heart valve opens 3-5cm. I was born with that condition and just this year (33years) I had to have the valve fixed. Keep in mind that rising pressure punishes your aorta. Personally I think it was a bit harsh to deny the medical right on the spot unless maybe this was your first visit to this ame. Don’t sweet it just yet.

Chances are the Echo (ECG) will show a Mitral Vlave Prolapse (MVP). Fairly common and usually not a big deal. The amount of "regurtitation" will be an issue and OKC usually wants less then a 40mm HG gradient across the valve.

They'll probably want 2 tests initially if you're going to go for a first class :

ECG - Echocardiogram (w/ doppler)
Holter Monitor - 24 hour EKG about the size of an ipod you wear (and sleep with)

They MAY want a nuclear stress test depending upon the findings of the above and other health issues (if any). This involves the injection of a dye like substance and time on a treadmill while hooked up to an EKG where pictures of the heart are taken prior to the treadmill (after dye injection) and after, to note heart function.

The problem with this test is it has a somewhat of a high false faliure rate and if you do fail, if you want a medical, you must undergo mandatory heart catheterization which carries its own risk (all though, not that high) and it's EXPENSIVE (at LEAST $ 5,000).

Good luck.