When the pediatrician listens to your child's heart with a stethoscope, a simple rhythmic "lub-dub, lub-dub" is generally heard. If additional swishing or whooshing sounds are also heard, those are heart murmurs. 50-70% of murmurs in kids aren't a clinical concern, says a report by the National Center for Biotechnology Information. If the murmurs are suspected unusual, the pediatrician may recommend visiting a heart specialist who'll suggest if your child needs pediatric heart surgery in India. Here is everything to know about heart murmurs in kids.
Types
Heart murmurs are medically analyzed for the duration, loudness, and pitch. As per their increasing intensity, they're graded on a scale of 1 to 6.
Heart murmurs can be of the following types:
- Systolic murmurs
They happen during heart muscle contractions and can be ejection murmurs (because of blood flow through an irregular valve or a narrowed vessel) or regurgitant murmurs.
- Diastolic murmurs
They happen when the heart muscle relaxes between beats. This type of murmurs is due to regurgitation of the pulmonary or aortic valves or stenosis (narrowing) of the tricuspid or mitral valves.
- Continuous murmurs
They happen throughout a cardiac cycle (heartbeat).
Causes
Based on the cause of heart murmurs in a child, they can be:
Innocent murmurs
They are harmless heart sounds caused by normal blood circulation through the heart's valves and chambers, or adjacent blood vessels. Hence, they're also called physiologic or functional murmurs. They may become louder if your kid is ill, stressed, or excited. Such murmurs usually disappear as he/she grows into adulthood.
Abnormal murmurs
They indicate a heart condition and hence, are also called pathologic murmurs. They're quite rare in children. Else, their presence may be due to:
- An inborn congenital heart defect
- Fever
- Infection
- Anemia (low count of red blood cells)
- Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid gland)
- A heart valve condition
Pathologic heart murmurs in children are sometimes associated with the following medical conditions:
- Down syndrome: It's a genetic condition that can delay development and intellectual growth.
- Patent ductus arteriosus: It may happen in premature infants when ductus arteriosus, a blood vessel doesn't close. As such, blood starts circulating abnormally between the two main arteries near one's heart. It may be detected shortly after birth and verified by echocardiography.
Symptoms
Kids with innocent murmurs develop no signs besides the heart sounds. Pathologic murmurs, based on the underlying condition, may have the following symptoms:
- Cough
- Chest pain
- Sweating
- Breathlessness or breathing fast
- Poor feeding or weight gain
- Syncope (fainting) or dizziness
- Bluish skin, mainly of the fingertips and lips
- Edema (swelling) of the neck veins, liver, abdomen, feet, ankles, or lower legs
Treatment
Your child's heart murmurs can be diagnosed by a chest X-ray, electrocardiogram, or echocardiography to reveal the underlying condition (if any).
Abnormal murmurs need treatment based on the kid's general health, and age, and the specific underlying condition, its signs, and severity. For instance, murmurs from a congenital heart condition require medication, procedures, or pediatric heart surgery in India.
If your child is diagnosed with a pathologic heart murmur, don't hesitate to seek the best heart specialist at a hospital in Hyderabad.
