What should I know about heart murmurs?

Heart murmurs are sounds — such as whooshing or swishing — made by turbulent blood in or near your heart. Your doctor can hear these sounds with a stethoscope. A normal heartbeat makes two sounds like “lubb-dupp” (sometimes described as “lub-DUP”) when your heart valves are closing.

What are the four types of heart murmurs?

Types of murmurs include the following:

• Systolic murmur. A heart murmur that occurs during a heart muscle contraction.
• Diastolic murmur. A heart murmur that occurs during heart muscle relaxation between beats.
• Continuous murmur. A heart murmur that occurs throughout the cardiac cycle.

Which murmurs are louder on INspiration?

Rules of thumb: Right sided murmurs become louder on INspiration. Left sided murmurs become louder on EXpiration. The only murmurs louder with Valsalva are HOCM and mitral prolapse.

Where are murmurs best heard?

The murmur is heard best between the apex and the left sternal border. It becomes louder with any maneuver that decreases preload or afterload, such as Valsalva or abrupt standing.

What does a heart sound like with a heart murmur?

A heart murmur is a sound caused by blood flow within the heart. Instead of ‘lub-dub’, the heartbeat may have an added sound like a hum, a whoosh or a rasp. The cause of the whooshing sound is the vibration of blood as it moves through the heart, which is normally undetectable by stethoscope.

What are the dangers of a heart murmur?

When a heart murmur becomes a problem Heart valve abnormalities may lead to one or more problems, such as: Stenosis, or not enough blood getting to the heart, leading to the heart not pumping normally. Regurgitation, or the heart not closing properly, leading to leaking.

What is the difference between heart sound and heart murmur?

Note that heart sounds are discrete, short audible events from a specific cause — different from a heart murmur. A murmur is due to turbulence of blood flow and can, at times, encompass all of systole or diastole.