Heart Murmurs
What is a heart murmur?Murmurs are sounds made by blood circulating through the
heart's chambers or valves, or through blood vessels near the heart.
What causes a heart murmur?
Heart murmurs may be caused by a number of factors or diseases, including
the following:
- defective heart valves
- holes in the heart walls
- surgical repair of congenital (present at birth) heart defects
- fever
- anemia (a decrease in the red cells in the blood)
What are the different types of murmurs?
Your child's physician will evaluate a murmur based on several factors.
Murmurs are analyzed for pitch, loudness, and duration. They also are
graded according to their intensity (on a scale of one to six, with one
being very faint and six being very loud).
Types of murmurs include the following:
- systolic murmur - a heart murmur that occurs during a heart
muscle contraction. Systolic murmurs are divided into ejection murmurs
(due to blood flow through a narrowed vessel or irregular valve) and
regurgitant murmurs.
- diastolic murmur - a heart murmur that occurs during heart
muscle relaxation between beats. Diastolic murmurs are due to a
narrowing of the mitral or tricuspid valves, or regurgitation of the
aortic or pulmonary valves.
- continuous murmur - a heart murmur that occurs throughout the
cardiac cycle.
Murmurs related to a congenital (present at birth) heart defect or
other problem involving the heart structures will be heard the loudest in
the area of the chest where the problem occurs.
Do all murmurs signify heart disease?Not all heart murmurs are symptoms of heart disease. Sometimes,
a murmur may be heard in a normal child who has a fever or who is anemic;
these murmurs often go away when the underlying problem is treated.
Some children have what is known as an innocent murmur. These murmurs
are not related to congenital heart defects, and usually resolve by the
time a child reaches adulthood. If your child's physician hears an
innocent murmur, he/she may want to perform additional tests to ensure a
heart defect is not present. A child with an innocent murmur can live a
normal life and be as active as any other healthy child.
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