Most heart murmurs are harmless and as a pre-existing condition at child birth. Having a heart murmur does not necessarily mean that there is anything wrong. An innocent murmur can be as a result of high fever or hyper- activity in children, causing the blood to flow faster through the heart. In case of the opposite where there is so little activity, the murmur quiets or even disappears. The reason why it is easy to detect murmur in children is because they have less muscle, fat and bone. The older they get the harder it becomes for it to be heard with the use of a stethoscope.
Though most murmurs are harmless, one should not ignore because some murmurs can result from heart problems. It is important therefore to have yourself examined by a pediatric cardiologist if you suspect that your heart murmur could be due to a heart problem, just to be on the safe side.
There are various factors one needs to consider in order to determine whether or not a heart murmur can lead to death.
Signs and Symptoms
Apart from the murmur itself, innocent murmurs don’t have signs or symptoms because they are not caused by any heart problem. Abnormal murmur is the one you need to be careful about. The signs and symptoms are determined by how severe the heart problem causing the murmur which may include: failure to normal growth and poor eating habits in infants, chest pain, dizziness or fainting, short of breath due to physical exertion, chronic cough, sweating in excess due to minimal exertion or none at all, enlarged liver and neck veins, decolorization of the skin on the finger tips and nails especially, and sudden weight gain or swelling.
Diagnosis of a Heart Murmur
The doctor may detect the heart murmur with the aid of a stethoscope during a medical checkup. It can also be detected during infancy or at birth in the case of a congenital heart defect. People with abnormal heart murmurs are often referred to a pediatric cardiologist for specialized testing and care. The doctor will listen to location, loudness and timing of the murmur for diagnosis. Questions about medical and family histories may be asked and also a complete physical examination performed in order to determine signs of illness.
If the doctor suspects to have abnormal heart murmur, he may recommend certain tests such as chest x-ray to find the causes of chest pain and shortness of breath, Electrocardiogram to record the heart’s electrical activity in order to detect and locate the source of the heart problem, Echocardiography which uses sound waves to determine the size and shape of the heart and how well the valves are working.
There is no way to prevent heart murmurs except when preventing heart valve infections.
Many problems can be associated with the heart which can cause irregular rhythms; however, most people with heart murmur live long normal lives. To know if it could be fatal depends solely on the cause of the murmur.
