The ninth version of the AHA's recommendations for prevention of IE was published in 1997-now we have the tenth and if followed there will be many fewer patients taking antibiotics before dental procedures. To the credit of the AHA the full text version is available on line and as well as being interesting reading from an historical and an analytic point of view it is something physicians need to know.
It looks like we don't have to fret about the patient who might have mitral value prolapse (MVP) and what type she/he was supposed to have because now we told it doesn't matter anyway. The authors point out that these guidelines " may violate long standing expectations and practice patterns " held by physicians,dentists and patients.I used to spend time trying to figure out what exactly the physician had told the patient about the type of MVP he had and what I really thought I needed was the echo report.
With some patients now being told they don't have to take antibiotics when they previously were told the opposite, will some be asking if the doctor/dentist was wrong then or is he wrong now? Probably some will but such is the half-life of medical truth.
