Question

Can you explain the causes of hear murmurs ?

Answer 1

Murmurs = turbulence of blood flow through the heart.
Heart murmur refers to the sound of turbulent or fast flow of blood through the heart that can be heard with a stethoscope.

A heart murmur can be normal or benign which is called a benign flow murmur, or it can indicate a cardiac defect.

Benign heart murmurs are caused by physical exertion, exercise, stress, pregnancy, hyperthyroidism, anaemia, and childhood murmurs that resolve on their own.

The most common causes for abnormal heart murmurs are congenital heart defects and valvular diseases.

Cardiac abnormalities that can cause heart murmurs include:

• A leaky or narrow heart valve: narrowing of a valve is called stenosis which slows the flow of blood, while a leaky heart valve causes backflow or regurgitation of blood.
• Mitral valve prolapse: this valve controls blood flow from the the left atrium to the left ventricle. In some cases, the valve bulges into the atrium which causes leakage of blood into the atrium when the ventricle contracts.
• Septal defects or ‘hole in the heart’: a congenital defect in which there is an opening in the septum that divides the two sides of the heart
• Patent Ductus Arteriosus
• Inflammation of the heart tissue
• Thickening of the heart muscles in the lower left ventricle or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.