Diet drugs and cardiac valvulopathy: a survey of dental patients.

The recent finding that several appetite suppressant drugs (fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine) were linked to cardiac valvular disease in a significant percentage of the population led to their voluntary withdrawal. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a series of recommendations in 1997 for evaluating dental patients who had taken these drugs. Since that time, several studies have further investigated the prevalence of valvular abnormalities. This information is crucial because of the problem of dentally associated bacterial endocarditis. This study surveyed more than 1,300 dental patients and determined the prevalence of patients taking these diet drugs and cardiac valvulopathy and the percentage of dental patients required to take antimicrobial endocarditis prophylaxis before "at risk" dental procedures. It remains important for dentists to query their patients for this information.