Overview

What is a Heart Murmur in a Child?

A heart murmur is detected over the chest when listening with a stethoscope. The sound results from the circulatory flow of blood in the tubes or chambers of the heart. Heart murmurs are extremely common in children, especially in infancy and early childhood. In fact, most children have experienced a heart murmur at some point during childhood.

What are the common types of heart murmurs in a child?

There are two kinds of heart murmurs.

Innocent murmurs: This is the most common type of murmur that affects the heart and is independent of heart disease. Innocent murmurs are non-pathologic and even resolve spontaneously within a certain period. They are caused by normal anatomical variation of the heart or an increase in blood flow through the heart, such as when one exercises or has a fever.
Pathologic murmurs: This type is due to a congenital heart defect, such as a developmental heart defect. Developmental heart defects are defects of heart structure at birth. Depending on the severity of the congenital heart problem, pathologic murmurs require treatment.

Other Types of murmurs include

Systolic murmur: it results when the heart muscle compresses. The systolic murmurs fall mainly under two groups, namely, ejection murmurs (which originate from the inflow of blood through a narrowed vessel or an irregular stopcock) and regurgitated murmurs.
Diastolic murmur: is arises when the heart muscles relax between beats. The diastolic murmurs originate from the narrowing of the mitral or tricuspid valve or regurgitation of the aortic or pulmonary valve.
Continuous murmur: it runs throughout the cardiac cycle.

What are the symptoms of Heart murmurs?

Most children with innocent heart murmurs will not have any symptoms at all. If your baby has a heart murmur and exhibits some of these signs, it can be a predisposing condition to an early heart condition. These signs include:-

Bluish pigmentation to the skin or lips (cyanosis)
Rapid breathing (tachypnea)
Fails to feed and thrives
Sweat while feeding
Severe tiredness

Talk to your pediatrician immediately if you have the following symptom with a heart murmur.

What are some Causes of Heart Murmurs?

Heart murmurs in infancy: Very common; over a third of babies are born with them. In most cases, they are harmless and caused by
Immature heart: At birth, the baby's heart is never fully developed. Sometimes, the heart's valves or chambers are still not mature and thus create a whooshing sound.
Increased blood inflow: Compared to life inside the womb, babe has more blood flowing through their hearts and lungs. This results in a murmur, especially when feeding, crying, or passing stools.
Anemia: Lowered red blood cells may lead to shakiness of the flow of blood.

What are the diagnoses and tests for heart murmurs in infants?

Simply put, diagnosing a heart murmur in an infant will require at least two steps:

First, the stethoscope must reach the heartbeat, and tests can be used to take a closer look.

Step 1-Harkening with a Stethoscope

A pediatrician will often use a stethoscope to listen to your baby's heartbeat during a good visit. They'll listen for these characteristics of the murmur:

Intensity: Murmurs are graded from 1 (slowest) to 6 (loudest).
Location: Where on the chest the sound is loudest can provide clues about the source.
Quality: If the sound is loud, blowsy, or rumbling, this can also be informative.

Step 2: Tests- if necessary

Not all heart murmurs require testing. If the pediatrician suspects that the murmur may be suspicious or that your baby has begun to develop new symptoms, he or she may refer you and your baby for some tests -

Echocardiogram (Echo): This is the most critical test for heart murmurs. They use sound waves to create apparent images of your baby's heart so doctors can inspect faucets, chambers, and inflow of blood.
Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG): This is a very rapid, painless test that determines the electrical effort of the heart. Although it is not diagnostic of murmurs, it could give a clue in suggested cases of implied heart rate abnormalities.
Chest X-ray: An X-ray could expose the size and shape of your baby's heart and lungs and be helpful in specific circumstances.

How common are heart murmurs in babies?

But most heart murmurs are common. Just about everybody had some innocent heart murmur at one time or another during puberty. All heart murmurs get anatomized by pitch, loudness, and duration. Their loudness also grades them on a scale of one to six: one is very faint, and six is very loud.

That doesn't mean they have nothing wrong with their hearts, does it?

If your baby doesn't have a murmur, the absence of a murmur does not mean that the child's heart is entirely healthy. Some murmurs occur late in life, and some cognitive heart conditions do not cause a murmur. Avoiding these chances are always better if you continue with regular checks with your pediatrician to see that your baby's heart stays healthy.

Living With

When to call a doctor?

Seek medical attention if you are experiencing any of the symptoms that indicate something has gone amok with your heart disease, such as -

Bluish-colored skin.

They are squeezing or pressure in the chest.

Pulsations in the heart.
Difficulty in breathing.
Dizziness or syncope.
Flashback

Most heart murmurs found in infants are benign and do not need any treatment whatsoever. The diagnosis that a pediatrician will give you will depend on the characteristics of the murmur and other symptoms your baby presents with. They send you to a pediatric cardiologist if they are concerned about it.

Why Tender Palm Super-Speciality Hospital for Pediatric Heart Murmurs?

Tender Palm Hospital has the most experienced team of Pediatric Cardiologists, Pediatric Cardiac Surgeons, and diagnostics with the latest and International standard infection control measures in Lucknow, India. Pediatric cardiac science centre team has decades of experience in successfully treating Pediatric Heart Murmurs.