Dear Parents,
Hearing a murmur in childhood is due to three main reasons; Presence of a hole in the wall in the middle of the heart, stenosis or insufficiency in the heart valves, innocent murmur.
Innocent murmur: More than half of the murmurs heard in childhood are innocent murmurs. Innocent murmurs are heard without any abnormality in the heart. It is the humming sound heard as a result of the turbulence (vibration) caused by fast-flowing blood as it circulates in the heart or large vessels, since the number of heart beats per minute in children is higher than in adults. During periods of fever and anemia, since the number of heart beats per minute is higher, innocent murmurs are heard more loudly or become audible. Innocent murmurs can be heard in any period of childhood. This murmur has no harmful effects on children. While it may disappear until the age of fifteen, it may also continue until adulthood. It does not matter whether the murmur disappears or not.
Hearing only a murmur without any significant complaints or findings may be due to a congenital (such as hole, stenosis) or acquired (such as cardiac rheumatism) heart disease. Although an experienced pediatrician may have an idea that the murmur he hears may be innocent murmur or related to heart disease, we, as pediatric cardiologists, can say that the definitive diagnosis can only be made by echocardiography. As a result of echocardiographic examination, if no heart disease is detected in the child and the murmur heard is considered an innocent murmur, we can say with certainty that there is no congenital heart disease.
Early diagnosis and treatment results of childhood heart diseases are often satisfactory. However, in delayed cases, even a treatable disease may have no chance of treatment. If your doctor recommends hearing a murmur, whether your child has any complaints or not, it would be appropriate to have your child evaluated by a pediatric cardiologist without wasting too much time.
Rheumatic heart disease is one of the most acquired heart diseases and can often progress silently without even hearing a murmur. Beta hemolytic streptococci, which cause throat infections very frequently especially in children aged 5-10, can cause rheumatic heart disease in some sensitive children. why could it be. For this reason, although echocardiographic examination was performed in the preschool period, it is important to repeat echocardiography in every child at school age (6-10 years old) in order not to miss rheumatic heart disease and some genetic heart diseases that are very rare and may show symptoms later.
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