What causes a heart murmur in a child?

The younger the child, the worse his physical fitness and resistance are, so any health problems a child has need to be taken seriously. For example, some young children have heart murmurs. What is the reason for heart murmurs in young children? In fact, this is nothing new. Many young children may have had it when they were young. But we should not take it lightly, because there are two possible reasons for heart murmurs in young children. Please see the introduction below for details.

Medically, 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.

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.

These are the two reasons why young children have heart murmurs. When parents find that their children have such abnormalities, they don’t need to be too anxious, because generally speaking, heart murmurs in young children are physiological and are caused by their high energy. If the child has other discomforts, a physical examination is needed to see if the discomfort is caused by an illness.