What causes a baby's heart murmur?

Every newborn baby is an extremely precious treasure in the hearts of his parents, but some babies have some abnormal conditions after birth. For example, some babies are found to have heart murmurs during routine examinations. The heart is a very important organ in the body, which makes some parents very worried that their children will also have this condition. So, what causes a baby's heart murmur?

A heart murmur is a sound other than the normal sounds of the heart. If the murmur is loud, it may mean there is some kind of heart disease. Medically, heart murmurs are divided into 6 grades. Grade I-II heart murmurs are milder, while Grade IV-V are louder heart murmurs. When a heart murmur occurs during the heart's contraction phase, it is called a systolic murmur; when it occurs during the heart's diastole phase, it is called a diastolic murmur.

When caring for children with heart disease, the first thing to do is to ensure that the children have a good rest. Children with heart failure (symptoms such as fast heartbeat, shortness of breath, enlarged liver, edema, etc.), enlarged heart and acute stage of the disease should absolutely stay in bed to rest. The daily life of the children, such as washing face, eating, urination and defecation, should be taken care of by adults. The length of bed rest should be different according to the type and severity of the disease, and everything should be done according to the doctor's instructions. Generally, children should stay in bed to rest until the size of the heart basically returns to the normal range and the symptoms of heart failure are under control for 2 to 4 weeks. After the child recovers, it is necessary to avoid excessive restrictions on his activities and unnecessary extension of rest time, because this will cause unnecessary mental burden to the children (especially the older children), and will hinder the recovery of physical strength, which is not good for health.

Heart murmurs refer to abnormal sounds, in addition to heart sounds and extra heart sounds, produced by the vibration of ventricular walls, valves or blood vessels caused by the turbulence of blood in the heart or blood vessels when the heart contracts or relaxes.

The sounds made by the beating heart are called heart sounds. Generally, two heart sounds can be heard. The first "dong" is produced when the heart contracts, which is called the first heart sound; the second "ta" is produced when the heart relaxes, which is called the second heart sound. Sometimes a third heart sound may also be heard. There are four heart sounds in total, and the fourth one is not easy to hear.

Heart sounds are the sounds made by the opening and closing of valves and the passage of blood when the heart contracts and relaxes. When the valve is diseased, the switch fails, or blood flows too quickly, the pitch of the sound can change; the sound can become longer and the tone can change. This is called a "heart murmur." Any heart disease that can affect the heart valves can cause a heart murmur. Such as acquired rheumatic heart disease, congenital pulmonary valve stenosis, mitral valve stenosis or insufficiency. In addition, if there are abnormal channels or holes in the heart, murmurs may be produced when blood flows through them, such as congenital heart diseases such as atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus, and tetralogy of Fallot.

It is recommended that you take your baby to the hospital for a cardiac ultrasound examination to confirm whether he has heart disease such as abnormal heart valve function or atrioventricular septal defect.

In medicine, heart murmurs in children are divided into physiological murmurs (also known as harmless murmurs or benign murmurs) and pathological murmurs.

Physiological murmurs are more common in children. Medical data show that 23%-60% of healthy children can hear this murmur at the left edge of the sternum or the apex of the heart. Newborns, infants and school-age children may have mild grade I-II systolic murmurs, which are softer in nature, like the "fu-fu" sound of blowing wind, and some are musical. The production of this murmur is related to the child's vigorous metabolism, strong myocardial contraction and rapid blood circulation. It usually disappears at the age of 12-13. The child will not feel any discomfort and his activities will not be affected. Doctors and X-rays, electrocardiograms, echocardiograms and other examinations showed no evidence of heart disease. This physiological murmur is often discovered by chance, such as during a physical examination or when there is other illness. Therefore, the presence of a physiological murmur does not mean that you have a heart disease and does not require treatment.

After reading the above content, everyone has a certain understanding of the causes of heart murmurs in babies. In this way, you can avoid some deficiencies in your own care in life, and at the same time you must pay attention to it. If your baby feels unwell, you must go to the hospital for examination and treatment in time.