TY - JOUR T1 - MEdical news Y1 - 1969/12/08 N1 - 10.1001/jama.1969.03160360007003 JO - JAMA SP - 1841 EP - 1852 VL - 210 IS - 10 N2 - Heart Murmurs May Be Masked By Pregnancy  Murmurs of aortic and mitral regurgitation—clues to rheumatic heart disease and valvular disease—can become so faint in pregnant women that they may be overlooked, according to a study reported at the American Heart Association meeting in Dallas.Pregnant women with these heart conditions are susceptible to bacterial endocarditis at the time of delivery, said Frank I. Marcus, MD. Dr. Marcus, who headed the study, is professor of medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine."Organic heart disease must be suspected during pregnancy when there is a history of rheumatic fever or rheumatic heart disease, even in the absence of the murmur of aortic or mitral valve regurgitation," Dr. Marcus recommends.He added that physicians should also listen for the murmurs after the termination of pregnancy.Allan C. Bleich, MD, now of the Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, presented the SN - 0098-7484 M3 - doi: 10.1001/jama.1969.03160360007003 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1969.03160360007003 ER -