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Heart murmurs and other sounds - Treatment

Alternative Names

Chest sounds - murmurs; Heart sounds - abnormal; Murmur - innocent; Innocent murmur; Systolic heart murmur; Diastolic heart murmur

What to expect at your health care provider's office:

The health care provider will usually discover a heart murmur during a physical examination. You may or may not have been aware of its presence. The physical examination will include careful attention to heart sounds.

The doctor may ask the following questions:

  • Have other family members had murmurs or other abnormal heart sounds?
  • Is there any family history of heart problems?
  • What other symptoms do you have, such as:

The health care provider can often identify the valve involved and whether you have regurgitation or stenosis during the exam. The location, quality, and timing of the murmur are all important. The doctor may ask you to squat, stand, or hold your breath while bearing down or gripping something with your hands to listen to your heart.

Diagnostic testing to determine the cause of a "new" murmur or other abnormal heart sound may include:

  • Reviewed last on: 6/5/2010
  • Issam Mikati, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Director, Northwestern Clinic Echocardiography Lab, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Otto CM, Bonow RO. Valvular heart disease. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsever; 2007:chap 62.

Fang JC, O'Gara PT. The history and physical examination: an evidence-based approach. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsever; 2007:chap 11.

Bonow RO, Carabello BA, Chatterjee K, de Leon AC Jr., Faxon DP, Freed MD, et al. 2006 Writing Committee Members; American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force. 2008 Focused update incorporated into the ACC/AHA 2006 guidelines for the management of patients with valvular heart disease: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (Writing Committee to Revise the 1998 Guidelines for the Management of Patients with Valvular Heart Disease): endorsed by the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Circulation. 2008;118:e523-e661.

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