What is a heart murmur?
A heart murmur is a sound made by blood moving through the heart’s chambers or valves. Murmurs range from quite faint to very loud.
There are two main types of heart murmurs: innocent or flow (harmless) and abnormal. Most commonly heart murmurs in children are innocent heart murmurs that are not caused by a heart problem. They tend to become less pronounced and are less frequently as the child gets bigger.
Most abnormal murmurs in children are due to a congenital heart defect or a vascular anomaly.
What causes a heart murmur?
Heart murmurs may be caused by a number of conditions related to turbulent accelerated flow of blood in the heart, some examples include:
heart valve problems
holes between the pumping chambers
narrowing of blood vessels leaving the heart
peripheral pulmonary stenosis
systemic disease such as: fever or anaemia
How is a heart murmur diagnosed?
A physician will evaluate your child’s murmur based on what it sounds like (pitch, character, location, loudness and duration). Most are detected in the first instance by a primary care doctor. Your GP or paediatrician will decide if your child needs to be seen by a cardiologist. The most important thing early on is to diagnose the cause of the murmur.
Murmurs related to a congenital heart defect or other problem involving the heart will be heard the loudest in the area of the chest where the problem occurs.
What are the treatment options for a heart murmur?
Luckily, most heart murmurs in children are benign and don’t need treatment or follow up. If your child has an abnormal heart murmur that’s caused by another heart condition, he or she may need further investigations to fully define the cause and assess the necessary treatment for that condition.
Treatment of abnormal heart murmurs?
If your child has a heart murmur caused by a heart condition, the necessary investigations will be performed to allow counselling and appropriate care for the child depending on the underlying lesion causing the murmur.
