Heart
Murmurs
Heart
murmurs may be caused by a number of factors or
diseases, including:
- defective heart valves
- holes in the heart
walls (atrial septal defect or ventricular septal
defect)
- pregnancy (increased
blood volume)
- fever
- anemia (a decrease
in the red cells in the blood)
All
murmurs are analyzed for pitch, loudness, and
duration. They are also graded according to their
intensity (on a scale of one to six, with one
being very faint and six being very loud).
Types
of murmurs include:
- systolic murmur -
occurs during a heart muscle contraction. Systolic
murmurs are divided into ejection murmurs (due
to blood flow through a narrowed vessel or irregular
valve) and regurgitant murmurs.
- diastolic murmur -
occurs during heart muscle relaxation between
beats. Diastolic murmurs are due to a narrowing
(stenosis) of the mitral or tricuspid valves,
or regurgitation of the aortic or pulmonary
valves.
- continuous murmur
- occurs throughout the cardiac cycle.
Click
here to view the Online
Resources of Cardiovascular Disease
|
