Heart murmurs are commonly found during routine physical examination. They are described as abnormal sounds heard during auscultation with a stethoscope. While some heart murmurs may be harmless, others can indicate underlying heart conditions that require further evaluation and treatment.
Heart murmurs can result from various heart issues that cause a turbulent flow of blood through the heart chambers and valves. The most common cause of a heart murmur is a problem with one of the heart valves, such as narrowing (stenosis) or leakage (regurgitation). Commonly affected valves are aortic valve, mitral valve and tricuspid valve. Less frequently observed are congenital (present at birth) heart defects, such atrial septal defects (ASDs) or ventricular septal defects (VSDs), which are often referred to as `holes in a heart`. Sometimes, murmurs may be entirely benign, so called flow murmurs.
