What is Murmur? How to Treat Murmur?
It is the general name for the sounds resembling a blowing sound that are heard in addition to normal heart sounds when the heart is examined with a listening instrument called a stethoscope.
What is a murmur?
It is the general name for the sounds resembling a blowing sound that are heard in addition to normal heart sounds when the heart is examined with a listening instrument called a stethoscope.
What are the causes of murmur?
Congenital or acquired heart and vascular problems cause different types of murmurs in specific locations. There are many types of murmurs depending on their intensity and frequency. While they are completely harmless, they can also be a sign of mild or severe heart disease. Or, in cases that increase blood flow rate, such as anemia, pregnancy, or overactivity of the thyroid gland, there are temporary functional murmurs heard even if the heart and vessels are normal.
What are the symptoms of heart disease other than a murmur?
The presence of any of the following symptoms, whether accompanied by a murmur or not, may be a sign of heart disease.
Murmur in babies:
- bruising
- Frequent breathing, moaning
- inability to gain weight
- Retardation in growth and development
- Having frequent lung infections
Murmur in children:
- fainting or fainting
- rhythm disorders
- chest pain
- Weakness, Fatigue easily, squatting
What are the types of murmur?
Murmur is not a disease, but a general name for excessive sounds heard in the heart. It is an examination finding that may be a sign of heart disease. The cause of the murmur is important. We can generally divide murmurs into two main groups as pathological murmurs and innocent murmurs. Innocent murmurs are light, usually musical sounds that are very common especially in childhood and are heard due to reasons such as the vibration of insignificant fibrous bands inside the heart, even if the hearts are normal. There is no disease here.
Pathological murmurs are louder murmurs caused by conditions such as valve stenosis or insufficiency, vascular stenosis, or a hole in the heart, depending on the location and type of murmurs heard.
The types of murmurs are as follows, depending on the stage of the heart’s work when they are heard:
Systolic murmurs: They are heard during contraction of the heart.
Diastolic murmurs: They are heard during relaxation of the heart. They are low frequency.
Continuous murmurs: They are heard during both contraction and relaxation of the heart.
How to recognize murmur in children?
It is mostly noticed when patients are taken to the doctor due to a feverish illness. Because during a febrile illness, the intensity of existing murmurs increases and they become more easily heard. Even if the child’s doctor, who always monitors the child, did not notice it beforehand, he can detect the murmur when he comes with fever. It can be detected during routine healthy child checks in the first 2 years of age. Some murmurs that go unnoticed at a young age may be revealed through health screenings performed in primary school.
How are murmurs treated?
Murmurs are not treated. The disease causing the murmur (if any) is treated. Anyone who has a murmur, whether a child or an adult, should be evaluated by a cardiologist and the cause of the murmur should be investigated. Since echocardiographic examination provides detailed information about the structural and functional problems of the heart, this examination should be performed on everyone who has heard a cardiac murmur during the examination. In this way, pathological murmurs due to a disease can be distinguished from innocent murmurs heard in people with healthy hearts.
If the murmur is heard due to vascular stenosis, it will disappear when you remove the vascular stenosis. Or, if it is a hole in the heart, when you close the hole causing the murmur, the murmur will no longer be heard. In functional murmurs caused by increased blood flow rate, for example, if it is due to anemia, the murmur will disappear when you treat the anemia, or if it is due to hyperthyroidism, the murmur will disappear.
Innocent murmurs do not require treatment. Because there is already a healthy heart. Innocent murmurs may also be heard more loudly during febrile illness. Or they may become inaudible over time.
