Related articles: Heart murmur
Definition
The heart murmur is an abnormal noise generated by the turbulent flow of blood through the valves, inside the heart chambers and in the blood vessels near the heart itself.
The initial objective, after detecting the heart murmur with auscultation by phonendoscope, consists in identifying the part of the cardiac cycle in which this can be heard.
A whirling or non-laminar transit of blood flow may appear in response to rapid acceleration of the flow, such as occurs through a valve or partially obstructed or restricted vessel segment (stenosis). The heart murmur takes on a pathological significance in case of insufficiency of the heart valves, in which the flow can be regurgitating or anterograde.
Other possible causes include congenital defects (present from birth; eg interatrial or interventricular anatomical defect) and acquired cardiopathies (eg calcifications or degenerative changes).
The heart murmur, however, is not always an expression of heart disease; in fact, it can be "functional" and depend on a faster passage of blood through the normal structures of the heart. You can find, for example, during a sporting activity or in case of fever, anxiety, hyperthyroidism, anemia and pregnancy.
Possible Causes * of heart murmur
- Anemia
- Aortic aneurysm
- Pulmonary heart
- Interatrial defect
- sickle cell
- Infective endocarditis
- Non-infectious endocarditis
- Rheumatic fever
- Pregnancy
- Hyperthyroidism
- myxoma
- Heart failure
- Marfan syndrome
- Cardiac tumors
