Is a heart murmur dangerous?
A heart murmur does not necessarily have to be dangerous. Especially with young people who are perfectly healthy and show no symptoms of heart disease, it is doubtful that an existing heart murmur has a pathological background. Such heart murmurs are called accidental – coincidental.
They are very quiet and can be influenced by the position of the body or increased work of the heart. However, the heart must be examined carefully if a heart murmur is heard. Otherwise, the heart can be damaged in the long term if a heart valve defect occurs.
The extra work that the heart muscle has to perform due to the valve defect can initially be compensated. But the longer the condition lasts, the sooner the heart can no longer perform its full function. This results in water retention in the legs or lungs, possibly even loss of consciousness due to a lack of blood supply to the brain, breathing difficulties and cardiac arrhythmia.
Various heart defects also trigger heart murmurs. Their consequences can take on different dimensions. For this reason, intensive care by a cardiologist is required to find the cause of the heart murmurs, to eliminate them if possible and to prevent long-term consequences.
Especially in children, so-called accidental (random) heart murmurs often occur, which have no disease value. Between the ages of 4 and 10, it is most likely that there is a harmless cause for the heart murmur. If a heart murmur can be detected in an infant, it is more likely to have a pathological background than in older children.
A systolic murmur in an infant may indicate a heart defect, anemia or high fever.A common heart defect in newborns is the open ductus arteriosus botalli. This vessel ensures fetal circulation during pregnancy, but must close itself for the independent circulation to work properly during delivery. If this closure does not occur, heart murmurs may occur, which can be heard during systole as well as diastole.
If the sound is transmitted to the upper part of the thorax or the carotid artery, there may be an occlusion or narrowing of the exit valve of the heart (aortic stenosis). The above-mentioned accidental noises are usually systolic or mixed systolic-diastolic noises. If a purely diastolic heart murmur is heard in a child, it is very likely associated with a disease and should be detected as soon as possible.
