What is the cause of the heart murmur during the baby's physical examination?

A family often pays the most attention to its children, especially those who have just been born. Parents need even more careful care. Many parents will take their babies to get vaccinations or have regular physical examinations. In fact, this is to better ensure that their children do not develop certain diseases. However, some parents often find that their children’s heart is abnormal during the physical examination. So, what does it mean when a baby has a heart murmur during a physical examination?

1. Heart murmur refers to sounds other than normal heart sounds. 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.

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

3. 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. From newborns, infants to school-age children, the heart may have mild grade I-II systolic murmurs, which are soft 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.

4. Pathological murmurs are caused by pathological changes in the heart's blood vessels (including congenital and acquired). This type of heart murmur is generally rough and has a loudness of Grade III or above. The sick child may experience shortness of breath, weakness and other discomforts when moving. Common heart diseases include congenital heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, and infective endocarditis. However, sometimes physiological murmurs can occasionally reach grade III, which is difficult to distinguish from murmurs caused by congenital heart disease and rheumatic heart disease, and further examinations are necessary. In recent years, with the development of echocardiography, especially the application of color Doppler echocardiography, it is generally possible to identify whether the nature of a child's heart murmur is physiological or pathological, and to understand the causes of physiological murmurs.

When it comes to what it means when a baby has a heart murmur during a physical examination, you can learn a thing or two from the above content. Children have weak constitutions, and if parents fail to discover any physical problems in time. It has a great impact, so we must always take our children for physical examinations in life, so that problems can be discovered and solved in time.