Heart Murmur

A heart murmur is usullay diagnosed by your primary care physician during your child's well or sick visit. Although can be a a normal finding, it can lead to more serious complications that lower your quality of life. At Pediatric Healthy Hearts, diagnostic and preventive heart screenings are available for newborns, children, and adolescents to identify an underlying heart murmur, even if you don’t have symptoms. Nida Yousef, MD, and the experienced cardiologists offer personalized treatment plans using lifestyle changes, medications, catheter intervention, and surgery when needed to prevent the murmur from worsening. Call the Evergreen Park, Illinois, office today to schedule a heart murmur evaluation or book an appointment online.

What is a heart murmur?

With each beat, your heart makes a lubb-dupp sound as the valves close. When you have a heart murmur, the sound changes to a whooshing noise that occurs when the blood flowing through is too fast or choppy.

Heart murmurs can develop in newborn, adults,  and children. In some cases, a heart murmur is harmless. However, a murmur can also be a warning sign of an underlying heart condition.

You may have a murmur from birth due to congenital heart defects, such as a hole in the heart. Heart murmurs that develop later in life might stem from infections like strep throat or heart valve disease.

Pediatric Healthy Hearts offers diagnostic testing in-office to identify a heart murmur. The cardiologists can also test for other conditions that contribute to a heart murmur.

When should I schedule diagnostic testing for a heart murmur?

Schedule a diagnostic evaluation at Pediatric Healthy Hearts if you have heart murmur symptoms like:

• Dizziness
• Fainting
• Chest pain
• Persistent cough
• Shortness of breath
• Swollen neck veins
• Blue or gray lips or fingernails
• Heavy sweating without activity

The cardiologists can detect a heart murmur when listening to your heart with a stethoscope. They listen for the loudness and timing of the murmur to determine how severe the condition is.

You might also need an electrocardiogram (EKG), echocardiogram, or other diagnostic heart tests to identify the cause of the murmur.

How is a heart murmur treated?

Not all heart murmurs require treatment. If you have a murmur due to an underlying cardiac condition or one that causes severe symptoms, the Pediatric Healthy Hearts providers might prescribe beta blockers, blood thinners, or other medications.

Surgery or catheter intervention might be necessary if your heart murmur stems from a hole in your heart, valve damage, or other serious cardiac condition.

The providers can also recommend lifestyle and diet strategies you can use to optimize your heart health. They specialize in medically supervised weight loss programs to help you achieve a healthy weight and maintain your results in the long term, so you can improve your cardiovascular health.

Call Pediatric Healthy Hearts to schedule a diagnostic evaluation for a heart murmur or book an appointment online today.