What is a heart murmur?

By Matthew J. Hinton, M.D.

In the course of a typical day at the office, one particular scenario frequently comes up. While examining a patient, I will detect a heart murmur. When I mention this to the parent, usually there is a look of alarm, ranging from simple anxiety to bordering on panic. Because this is such a common situation, it is appropriate to shed some light on what a murmur is, and what it typically means.

A murmur is best described as a sound the heart makes. That sound could be from any number of things, but basically is categorized as either pathologic or non-pathologic. In other words, is the sound (murmur) because there is a problem with the heart (pathologic), or is the heart normal (non-pathologic)?

The good news is that the great majority of murmurs are non-pathologic. That is, the heart is completely normal and is creating a slight vibration as it is doing its job of pumping blood to the body. Think of the appliances in your home that make noise while functioning – the refrigerator, the dishwasher or even a toaster. We get concerned that something might be wrong only if the noise gets unusually loud or changes out of the ordinary.

In a similar way, the heart makes a soft vibration when beating. In children, this vibration is easily heard because of their thin chest walls and relatively rapid heartbeats that “hum” right along. This is typical and we call it a vibratory or innocent murmur. It is almost always normal, of no concern whatsoever, usually gets softer with time and eventually disappears. I hear these murmurs almost every day. In fact, I believe that just about everyone has a murmur at some point in their life!

A small percentage of the time, the sound could be from a problematic source. Perhaps there is a heart valve not working properly, a hole in between the chambers of the heart, or some other abnormality. Most, but not all, of these will be identified early in the child’s infancy. Some are more worrisome than others. Your child’s healthcare provider will decide what further evaluation may need to be done in these instances.

If you have any concerns about what your doctor is hearing, please ask. Most heart murmurs, or sounds, are a just normal part of growing up!

Dr. Matt Hinton is a Prescott native and board certified pediatrician. He graduated from Prescott High School and went to Yavapai College before completing his undergraduate degree at Brigham Young University. He came “home” to care for the Quad-Cities children after completing his MD at the University of Arizona and has been with Ponderosa Pediatrics since 2004. Additional information and articles about child healthcare can be found on the Ponderosa Pediatrics website at www.ponderosapediatrics.com or on our Facebook page.