Heart Murmur in Babies
Human heart beats in a rhythmic pattern, creating a lub dub sound. This sound is generated because of the blood flowing into and from the heart. In medical terms, heart murmur can be defined as abnormal sound produced by blood, when it passes through the heart blood vessels. Normally once the blood flows through the heart vessels, it doesn’t make any noise. But sometimes, the blood circulation can make disturbing noises in which the lub dub sound is combined with some swishing sound. Many a times, heart murmur in infants is a manifestation of normal changes that take place in the blood flow of baby’s body, after its birth. These sounds could be heard by using stethoscope. Mostly, heart murmur in babies isn’t a serious problem and also the heart is within an ordinary state. In few cases, it’s really a consequence of some heart disorder. Find out more on kids health.
Do you know the Reasons for Heart Murmur in infants?
A heart murmur could be innocent (functional), congenital or heart defect. There aren’t any specific symptoms of innocent heart murmur in infants, other than unusual sound produced by the heart. But if the reason for heart murmur is of congenital type, then few serious symptoms could be observed. These include breath shortness, feeding difficulty, chest infection, etc. In 90% cases, heart murmur in infants are of functional type. Hence, parents should not panic and worry once they come across the murmur sound within their baby’s heart. Let’s check out what causes heart murmur in infants. Read more on, heart murmur in infants.
Innocent Murmuring: Innocent murmuring, is easily the most common type of hear murmur noticed in babies. This is also known as functional heart murmur and it is an indication of healthy and normal heart. This type of murmur could be noticed numerous times, throughout the childhood. There is no special treatment required for this type of heart murmur. Innocent heart murmur, since the name suggests, do not pose any threat towards the child.
Congenital Heart Murmur: This can be a rare and serious type of heart murmur, that can be a characteristic of some heart problem. One out of 100 babies can have congenital heart murmur. If the doctor finds the heart murmur is really a reason for some heart problem, then he/she may ask to do certain laboratory tests like electrocardiogram, chest X-ray or echocardiogram. The health of mom while pregnant may influence the health of the baby. If the mother experienced German measles, diabetes or if she was an alcoholic, then the risk of congenital heart murmur increases.
Common Heart Defect: Common heart defect is a result of structural disorder of a baby’s heart. Here heart murmur is a consequence of some structural problem in the heart. You will find different types of heart defects. Included in this are, valve abnormalities, cardiomyopathy and septal defects. Septal defects result from holes contained in one’s heart walls. The outlet may cause flow of extra blood to the heart, that further results into murmur. Cardiomyopathy is really a heart muscle disorder, in which the heart muscles are abnormally thick and weak, resulting into impaired functioning of the heart.
What’s the Strategy to Heart Murmur in Babies?
The therapy for heart murmur depends on the reason. Innocent or functional murmur doesn’t need any kind of treatment. If congenital or common heart defect are diagnosed after the laboratory tests, then the parents have to approach a pediatric cardiologist. With respect to the symptoms observed, the pediatric cardiologist offers the appropriate treatment, which will regulate the proper blood circulation within the heart. Medication and surgery are two main areas of the treatment.
Heart murmur in infants, is very common and it is not often a result of any serious health problem. Thus, if parents notice such symptoms within their baby, they should not worry and consult a pediatrician in the earliest to confirm the cause of the heart murmur.