The heart pumps blood into the blood vessels with every beat. The flow of blood due to this pumping creates a sound like whooshing or swishing, known as heart murmurs. These sounds can be heard by your doctor with a stethoscope. The closure or opening of the valves in each heart beat creates the sound “lubb-dupp”.
Sometimes, heart murmurs may be present at birth, called congenital murmurs, or even develop at a later stage in life. Heart murmurs are broadly of two types:
Harmless/innocent: Many of the heart murmurs may not need treatment. These are called harmless/innocent murmurs. These can occur as a result of rapid blood flow through the heart in certain situations like:
Innocent heart murmurs may either disappear with time or can last longer without any health issues.
Abnormal heart murmurs: These murmurs may be an indication of underlying heart problem and may require treatment by a cardiologist.
Some of the following signs or symptoms, may be associated with an underlying disease causing heart murmurs:
Abnormal murmurs can be seen in babies, children or adults.
Causes for abnormal heart murmurs in babies are:
Any kind of structural defect or congenital heart defect like:
Causes for abnormal heart murmurs in children and adults include:
Infections or conditions leading to damage of heart structure like:
Some conditions increase the chances of developing a heart murmur like:
Heart murmurs can be diagnosed by a cardiologist with:
Some types of abnormal heart murmurs may just require monitoring by the cardiologist over time. Treatment generally depends on the nature of underlying problem and includes:
Medication:Based on the condition, the doctor may prescribe medicines to treat the underlying cause.
Surgery:
The kind of heart disease and the type of surgery governs the recovery time. It usually takes 6-12 months to recover fully and resume a normal lifestyle. Your healthcare team shall advice you on:
Even though medicines may not cure heart valve disease and surgery may be required for treatment of some kind of murmurs, lifestyle changes for heart health can help in delaying complications. Some of these changes include:
For treatment of heart murmurs, one should select a hospital with the availability of an experienced cardiologist or pediatric cardiologist for kids, cardiothoracic surgeon and infrastructure support like cath lab, advanced OT, cardiac care ICUs and lab support.
Cost of treatment may depend on factors like:
To know more about heart murmurs, you can request for a call back and our Heart Murmur specialist will call you and answer all your queries.
Disclaimer: The content of this publication has been developed by a third party content provider who is clinicians and/or medical writers and/or experts. The information contained herein is for educational purpose only and we request you to please consult a Registered Medical Practitioner or Doctor before deciding the appropriate diagnosis and treatment plan.
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