Heart murmur: Warning of heart valve disease

Posted by Doctor Nguyen Van Duong, Cardiovascular Center - Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital

Heart murmur is a sound that can be heard during heart activity, made by the movement of blood through the heart. This murmur can be heard with a medical stethoscope. A normal heart beat will make 2 sounds like: "boom - chuck", which is the sound of the heart valve closing.

Heart murmurs can be present at birth (congenital heart disease) or develop over time (valvular heart disease). Not all heart murmurs are pathological, however they can be a precursor to a cardiovascular disease.
Usually, heart murmurs are harmless and do not require treatment. But some heart murmurs specifically require monitoring and further tests to assess the cause of the murmur and treat it.

If you have an abnormal murmur in your heart, it may not have any particular symptoms. Your doctor can detect a murmur in your heart with a stethoscope during your routine physical exam. However, if you or your child has the following symptoms, you may have a heart problem, you should consult your doctor:
Pale skin, especially lips and fingertips Swollen limbs or increased Sudden weight loss Shortness of breath Chronic cough Enlarged liver (usually causing pressure in the right upper quadrant) Prominent neck veins Poor appetite or failure to develop normally (in newborns) Mild exertion sweating Chest pain Dizziness Syncope faint

There are 2 types of murmurs in the heart: normal and abnormal. A person with a normal heart murmur has a healthy heart. This type is common in infants and young children.
An abnormal heart murmur is more serious. In children, an abnormal heart murmur is often the cause of congenital heart disease. In adults, it is often the cause of valvular heart disease.
Normal heart murmur:
A normal heart murmur occurs when blood flow through the heart is faster than normal. This condition is common in:
Physical exertion Pregnancy High fever Anemia Hyperthyroidism Can be seen in adolescence Normal heart murmur will disappear after a while, however to identify a heart murmur Your or your child's is normal in need of consultation with a cardiologist.

Abnormal heart murmur:
The most common cause of an abnormal heart murmur in children is an abnormality of the baby's heart structure at birth (congenital heart defect)
Congenital heart defects are Causes of heart murmur, including:
Abnormal hole in the heart : commonly known as atrial septal defect or ventricular septal defect... Abnormal septal defect may not be serious, depending on location and size its size. Congenital heart valve abnormalities: present at birth but often undetected until adulthood. The most common are diseases that cause stenosis or regurgitation of the heart valve. Other causes of abnormal heart murmurs are structural changes in the heart valves due to infection or autoimmune disease. These causes are common in adults or older children and include:

Heart valve calcification : The valve leaflets will become thickened and calcified, like the mitral or aortic valve. The opening of the heart valve will narrow, making it harder for blood to pass through the valve in your heart, causing a heart murmur. Endocarditis: An infection that occurs in your heart and in the valve leaflets, usually caused by a bacterial infection from other areas of your body (usually the mouth) that travels through the bloodstream and causes disease in your heart. If not treated in time, endocarditis will destroy your heart valve leaflets and will cause abnormal heart valve diseases that create murmurs in the heart. Posterior rheumatic heart valve : Although quite rare in this day and age, posterior rheumatic heart valve disease is a serious valvular injury caused by untreated oropharyngeal infection. It will cause permanent heart valve damage (usually mitral and aortic valves) and surgery to replace the heart valve when indicated.

Risk factors that increase your baby's chance of having a heart murmur include:
Being sick during pregnancy: Certain medical conditions during pregnancy such as uncontrolled diabetes or rubella can cause increased risk of congenital heart defects and heart murmurs Unsuitable drug use during pregnancy: Use of certain high-risk drugs, alcohol, drugs harmful to fetal development and causes heart murmur.

Most heart murmurs are not serious, but if you think you or your child has a heart murmur, consult a cardiologist. Your doctor will tell you exactly if the murmur is normal or abnormal, and will advise you on whether further testing or further treatment is needed.
To protect heart health in general and detect early signs of cardiovascular disease, customers can sign up for Cardiovascular Screening Package - Basic Cardiovascular Examination of Vinmec International General Hospital. The examination package helps to detect cardiovascular problems at the earliest through tests and modern imaging methods. The package is for all ages, genders and is especially essential for people with risk factors for cardiovascular disease.