There are two known types of heart murmur: abnormal murmurs and innocent murmurs. People with an innocent murmur have healthy hearts typically common in children and newborns.
On the other hand, an irregular heart murmur is the more serious of the two. Among adults, it is very often caused by acquired problems in the heart valve. For children, congenital heart disease is the primary cause of abnormal heart murmurs.
TYPES
Abnormal heart murmurs
Congenital heart defects are the most common cause when it comes to abnormal murmurs in children. This is when babies have structural problems in their heart when they are born.
The most common congenital disabilities include:
- Abnormalities with the heart valves.Usually detected at birth, congenital heart valve abnormalities are sometimes left undiscovered until much later in the patient’s life. Typical examples are regurgitation or valves that leak and won’t properly close and stenosis or valves that have problems allowing sufficient blood to flow through them.
- Cardiac shunts or holes found in the heart. Depending on the hole’s size and the location of the hole, they may or may not be considered severe. These are also known as septal defects. Heart murmurs happen when there’s an abnormal flow of blood going to the heart chambers or blood vessels.
- Rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever can ultimately interfere with the normal flow of blood and affect the patient’s heart valves. If treatment for a (strep) throat infection is not administered promptly, it can become a severe condition.
- Endocarditis.This commonly happens when bacteria or other germs spread through the patient’s bloodstream and become lodged in the heart and infect the inner lining of the valves and heart. Typically, this occurs in people who may already have abnormalities with their heart valve. It can destroy or seriously damage a person’s heart valves if left untreated.
- Valve calcification.Heart murmurs become the result when valves become stenotic or narrowed down, causing difficulties for blood flow going to the heart. This thickening of the heart valves typically happens as a person ages.
Innocent heart murmurs either can be acute or chronic without resulting in any health issues. Conditions that can cause more rapid blood flow to the heart can result in innocent heart murmurs. These include:
- Hyperthyroidism
- Physical activity or exercise
- Adolescence
- Anemia
- Pregnancy
- Fever
SYMPTOMS
- Fainting
- Enlarged neck veins
- Chest pain
- Dizziness
- Bluish appearance on the skin, especially on the lips and tips of fingers
- Shortness of breath
- Sudden weight gain
- Heavy sweating
- Chronic cough
- Poor appetite
