Are these DHHS recommendations different from the earlier recommendations of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC)?
In the following ways the three recommendations are similar. All three sets of recommendations urge that all persons exposed to these drugs get a thorough medical history and physician examination with special attention to the heart and lungs. In addition, all three recommend that those with a new murmur or heart disease symptoms, such as shortness of breath or swelling in the legs, receive an echocardiogram examination. The American Heart Association recommendations and these DHHS recommendations suggest that patients found to have certain types of leaky heart valves on echocardiogram receive antibiotic coverage before certain medical or dental procedures. Developed in consultation with the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the American Dental Association, these DHHS interim recommendations build on the earlier AHA and ACC recommendations and incorporate new information from the five investigators who reported their results in patients who had taken t
