Valenzuela Ailment Might Be Minor : Baseball: A doctor says heart irregularity such as Angel pitcher has can sometimes be treated with medicine.

Angel pitcher Fernando Valenzuela’s possible heart irregularity could turn out to be an easily treated problem or even nothing at all, a prominent local cardiologist said Friday.

Dr. Mark Miller of Anaheim, past president of the Orange County chapter of the American Heart Assn., said if Valenzuela has a blockage of the coronary arteries, there is a chance the condition could be treated by medicine, and surgery won’t be necessary.

The Angels announced Thursday that Valenzuela, 30, had been placed on the 15-day disabled list after an examination earlier in the day “indicated possible cardiac vessel changes.” Valenzuela, who pitched for the Dodgers for 11 years and was released in March, signed with the Angels last month.

Miller, who is not involved with Valenzuela’s treatment, said when someone as young as Valenzuela has a cardiac problem, doctors look for “risk factors” associated with heart disease. They include high cholesterol readings, smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes or a family history of heart troubles.

Valenzuela’s agent, Tony DeMarco, said neither Valenzuela nor any family members had “any history of heart disease.” He said the pitcher had never smoked and did not fall into any of the risk categories mentioned by Miller.

In an interview Friday with Channel 7’s Jim Hill, Valenzuela said he has never had a heart problem. “I never have any pain, or anything like that,” he said. “Right now, I feel fine.”

Valenzuela said he hoped his next checkup would be good so he could return to the club.

“I do what doctors want me to do,” he said. “I hope it is a little problem and everything comes out right.”

Miller said putting Valenzuela on the disabled list was a good move “until they clear up whether there’s anything wrong.” The doctor said if one of his patients showed the same results Valenzuela had, he’d tell him not to do “any kind of work, physical or mental,” until more tests were done.

News of Valenzuela’s condition caught his teammates by surprise. Most didn’t discover the pitcher had been placed on the disabled list until late Thursday, when they arrived in Boston for a series that began Friday night and heard the news on TV.

Earlier Thursday, Valenzuela had boarded the team’s 2 p.m. flight at Ontario Airport but disembarked after being told that problems had surfaced in a treadmill test he had taken that morning.

“I saw him on the plane, then I saw (ESPN) Sports Center and heard them say he’s on the 15-day DL and I said, ‘How can that be?’ ” catcher Lance Parrish said. “I didn’t know what was going on.”

Pitching coach Marcel Lachemann also said Valenzuela’s potential problem “took everybody by surprise.” Even trainer Ned Bergert said he hadn’t been made aware of any potential problems.

Valenzuela made three starts in the minor leagues after being signed by the Angels. He then made his debut June 7 in Anaheim, losing to the Tigers. He had a poor outing Wednesday, losing to the Brewers and staying in the game less than two innings.

After an initial physical exam last week, Valenzuela underwent the treadmill-thallium scan Thursday, which indicated the possible problem. The Angels said further tests will be done “in the next few days,” though a spokeswoman said Friday she had no exact dates.

On a treadmill test, the patient walks in place on a moving belt that increases in speed. The radioactive isotope thallium is injected into the blood, providing a picture of the patient’s heart. The test lets a doctor see any areas receiving less blood than normal, which could indicate a blockage.

Miller said the use of thallium is “a sophisticated type of treadmill” test that looks for blockage in the coronary arteries. “The scan is not 100% accurate,” he said, and even if it does show an abnormality, it might not indicate that an artery is blocked.

An angiogram, which X-rays the blood vessels and hunts for blockages, would be a “natural” next step to the treadmill-thallium scan, Miller said. The test provides “a road map, a blueprint of coronary circulation.”

DeMarco, Valenzuela’s agent, said it “isn’t uncommon with athletes in those kinds of tests to have readings that have to be checked out.”

Last year, Dodger outfielder Kal Daniels was shown to have an irregular heartbeat in an examination before spring training. Daniels said it turned out to be nothing and he has played regularly ever since.

DeMarco cited the Daniels case, and said that if tests on Valenzuela show something, perhaps “it can be taken care of fairly easily.” If not, he said, “We want to know.”

Times Staff Writer Helene Elliott, in Boston, contributed to this story.