Signs and symptoms
When a child is born, and also at periodic checkups, a doctor will listen to the child’s heartbeat with a stethoscope. The doctor is listening to see if the heartbeat is regular and strong, and also to detect heart murmurs. Ordinarily, the doctor will hear the noise made by the lower chambers of the heart, which are called the ventricles, as the heart muscle contracts. Also, the valves that regulate the flow of blood through the heart can be heard as they shut. Most other unexpected sounds that the heart makes are called “murmurs” and the doctor can usually identify the innocent murmurs. If any murmur is found, however, the doctor may recommend a complete examination of the child’s heart, to make sure that the heart and circulation are normal and healthy. This will involve taking a detailed medical history, making a complete physical examination, and possibly giving the child a series of tests including an electrocardiogram, a chest X ray, and an echocardiogram, in which sound waves bounce off the heart and form a visual image of it.
Home care
An innocent murmur is completely normal and does not require any treatment or extra care. Treat the child as the normal, healthy child that he or she is.
Precautions
• No precautions are needed. Sometimes parents are frightened by the idea of a heart murmur and overprotect a child whose heart is quite normal. This is not good for the child’s health or well-being.
• If your doctor diagnoses an innocent murmur, do not be alarmed by the complicated names for innocent murmurs or by the tests your child may have.
Medical treatment
No medical treatment is necessary for an innocent murmur. The doctor may listen for the murmur at routine checkups to see if the sound can still be heard, but it really doesn’t matter whether the murmur continues or not.
Occasionally, an innocent murmur will sound somewhat like another type of murmur. If this happens, the doctor may wish to check the child’s heart again after a few years to be sure the original diagnosis was correct.
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