This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Biancaniello, T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Biancaniello, T. Related Collections Pediatric and congenital heart disease, including cardiovascular surgery

(Circulation. 2004;109:e162-e163.)
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.

Cardiology Patient Page

Innocent Murmurs

A Parent’s Guide

Thomas Biancaniello, MD

From the Stony Brook School of Medicine, Stony Brook, NY.

Correspondence to Thomas Biancaniello, MD, Stony Brook School of Medicine, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8111. E-mail tbiancan@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Murmurs are sounds or noises made by blood as it flows through the heart and blood vessels of the body. Murmurs can be caused by abnormal flow patterns that occur when there are abnormalities of the heart valves, holes within the heart, or abnormal communications between blood vessels or between blood vessels and the heart. In infants and children, most murmurs originate through normal flow patterns, however, and are referred to as innocent, physiological, or normal murmurs. By innocent, we mean that there are no structural (anatomic) or functional (physiological) abnormalities of the heart and that the murmur comes from normal flow within a normal heart. Innocent is the preferred term because it strongly conveys that nothing is wrong, as opposed to the older term functional, which is not always clearly understood as being normal by parents and patients. Although murmurs termed innocent may be heard in virtually anyone, they are most often heard in childhood.

Although innocent murmurs may be prevalent mostly in childhood, the presence of murmur does not imply the presence of structural heart disease. Congenital heart defects, which are responsible for most of the heart problems in children in the developed world, are structural abnormalities caused by errors in the development of the heart while the child is still in the womb. The heart starts out as a single tube and, during the first eight weeks of pregnancy, divides into four chambers and forms four major valves. If an error or errors occur during . . . [Full Text of this Article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				V. Menashe Heart Murmurs Pediatr. Rev., April 1, 2007; 28(4): e19 - e22. [Full Text] [PDF]