Diagnosing a Heart Murmur
A murmur is heard during the heart listening exam, using a stethoscope held at different areas on the front of the chest as the heart beats. Heart murmurs can be heard in infants as well as older kids and teens.
Of course, if the child is crying, uncooperative, or breathing loudly, it might not be possible to hear a murmur. It helps if the child is quiet when the doctor listens, since some heart murmurs are very soft. The doctor may have a parent help by calming the child or having the child sit in the parent's lap during the exam.
Heart murmurs are rated on a scale from 1 to 6 in intensity (loudness). Grade 1 is barely audible, whereas grade 6 is very loud. The doctor will note where on the chest the murmur is best heard, the characteristics of the murmur (for example, whether it's harsh and high-frequency or soft and blowing), where it occurs in the heartbeat cycle, and whether it changes when your child changes position. After this initial discovery, the doctor may refer your child to a pediatric cardiologist for further evaluation.
It's not unusual for a murmur to be noticed during a checkup, even though none was heard before. Innocent murmurs tend to come and go, depending on a child's heart rate, position during the exam, and the presence of fever. Some new murmurs might be a sign of a newly developed heart problem. And some heart problems present from birth (congenital heart problems) at first might not be severe enough to cause a murmur that can be detected during an exam.
Because of the common misconception that all heart murmurs are serious, it's important for parents to understand which type of murmur their child has and if it needs further evaluation.
What's an Innocent Murmur?
The most common type of heart murmur is called functional or innocent. This diagnosis means the murmur is produced by a normal, healthy heart. It can come and go throughout childhood. It usually goes away on its own as the child gets older and doesn't pose any health threat.
Kids with innocent heart murmurs don't require a special diet, restriction of activities, or any other special treatment. They do not need to take a dose of antibiotic before going to the dentist. Those old enough to understand that they have a heart murmur should be reassured that they aren't any different from other kids.
In other words, an innocent murmur is the sound of normal blood moving through a normal heart in a normal way. Just as we can sometimes hear the sound of air moving in an air duct or water flowing through a plumbing pipe, we can often hear the sound of blood moving through the heart even if there is not a heart problem.