Heart murmurs
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Heart murmurs are sounds during your heartbeat cycle — such as whooshing or swishing — made by turbulent blood in or near your heart. These sounds can be heard with a stethoscope. A normal heartbeat makes two sounds like “lubb-dupp” (sometimes described as “lub-DUP”), which are the sounds of your heart valves closing.
Heart murmurs can be present at birth (congenital) or develop later in life. A heart murmur isn’t a disease — but murmurs may indicate an underlying heart problem.
Often, heart murmurs are harmless (innocent) and don’t need treatment. Some heart murmurs may require follow-up tests to be sure the murmur isn’t caused by a serious underlying heart condition. Treatment, if needed, is directed at the cause of your heart murmur.
If you have a harmless heart murmur, more commonly known as an innocent heart murmur, you likely won’t have any other signs or symptoms.
An abnormal heart murmur may cause no obvious other signs or symptoms, aside from the unusual sound your doctor hears when listening to your heart with a stethoscope. But if you have these signs or symptoms, they may indicate a heart problem:
Most heart murmurs aren’t serious, but if you think you or your child has a heart murmur, make an appointment to see your family doctor. Your doctor can tell you if your heart murmur is innocent and doesn’t require any further treatment or if an underlying heart problem needs to be further examined.
There are two types of heart murmurs: innocent murmurs and abnormal murmurs. A person with an innocent murmur has a normal heart. This type of heart murmur is common in newborns and children.
An abnormal heart murmur is more serious. In children, abnormal murmurs are usually caused by congenital heart disease. In adults, abnormal murmurs are most often due to acquired heart valve problems.
An innocent murmur can occur when blood flows more rapidly than normal through the heart. Conditions that may cause rapid blood flow through your heart, resulting in an innocent heart murmur, include:
Innocent heart murmurs may disappear over time, or they may last your entire life without ever causing further health problems.
The most common cause of abnormal murmurs in children is when babies are born with structural problems of the heart (congenital heart defects).
Common congenital defects that cause heart murmurs include:
Holes in the heart or cardiac shunts. Known as septal defects, holes in the heart may or may not be serious, depending on the size of the hole and its location.
Cardiac shunts occur when there’s an abnormal blood flow between the heart chambers or blood vessels, which may lead to a heart murmur.
Other causes of abnormal heart murmurs include infections and conditions that damage the structures of the heart and are more common in older children or adults. For example:
Endocarditis. This infection of the inner lining of your heart and valves typically occurs when bacteria or other germs from another part of your body, such as your mouth, spread through your bloodstream and lodge in your heart.
Left untreated, endocarditis can damage or destroy your heart valves. This condition usually occurs in people who already have heart valve abnormalities.
There are risk factors that increase your chances of developing a heart murmur, including:
Factors that increase your baby’s risk of developing a heart murmur include:
While there’s not much you can do to prevent a heart murmur, it is reassuring to know that heart murmurs are not a disease and are often harmless. For children, many murmurs go away on their own as children grow. For adults, murmurs may disappear as the underlying condition causing them improves.
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Brian Schilling was shocked to learn he had a dangerous condition that required surgery to repair one of his heart valves. But the procedure went off without a hitch, and Brian’s grateful for the thorough care he received through Mayo Clinic Health System. Brian Schilling didn’t think he had any medical concerns when he went […]
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Heart murmurs
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