The sound of turbulent blood flow through your heart is known as a heart murmur. It may be a whooshing or swishing sound. When blood doesn’t move easily through your heart, it results in a noisy flow. Although it is usually harmless, it can occasionally be a sign of a more severe heart problem. In actuality, most individuals experience an “innocent heart murmur,” a heart sound without any potential harm, during their childhood.

Signs and symptoms
The following symptoms may accompany a heart murmur:

• Breathing difficulty, either while exercising or at rest
• Vertigo or lightheadedness
• Heart palpitations or a fast or irregular heartbeat
• Chest discomfort and exhaustion (tiredness)
• Swelling in the legs or ankles
• Difficulty performing routine tasks

Classification
Heart murmurs can be of one of the following two categories:

• An innocent heart murmur occurs when the blood flows through the heart more quickly than normal, but your heart still beats normally. Such a condition is safe. People of all age groups frequently experience innocent cardiac murmurs. They may occur occasionally or repeatedly throughout your existence.
• An abnormal heart murmur is when the heart makes an unusual noise in your heartbeat. This is uncommon, and if left untreated, it can be dangerous. There are rare cases of abnormal cardiac murmurs, particularly in infants or young children.

Types of an abnormal heart murmur
There are three types of heart murmurs, classified according to the time they occur during a cardiac cycle:

• Systolic
  When your heart muscle contracts (tightens), you may experience this murmur.
• Diastolic
  When your heart muscle relaxes, this type of murmur occurs.
• Continuous
  When your heart muscle is contracting or relaxing, you may feel a continuous heart murmur.

Continuous and diastolic murmurs are more frequently associated with cardiac disease. However, every heart murmur needs to be examined.

Causes
The following conditions cause cardiac murmurs:

• Conditions
  Exercise, pregnancy, anemia, hyperthyroidism, fever, and fast physical growth can all result in high blood flow murmurs. An unintentional wheeze could be caused by high blood flow. These are innocent murmurs.
• Heart valve disease
  Heart valve conditions like aortic stenosis or a bicuspid aortic valve can cause a murmur.
• Cardiac issues
  A murmur may be brought on by ailments that affect the ventricles, such as functional mitral regurgitation.
• Side effects of other conditions
  Endocarditis and lupus are two conditions that can impact the heart and result in a murmur.
• Congenital heart disease-related murmurs
  Heart issues that are present from birth, like a cavity in the heart, can cause a murmur.
• Age
  As one gets older, calcium can accumulate in the cardiac valves. As a result, the valves open less widely, which makes it more difficult for blood to flow through.
• Aortic valve defects
  The aortic valve can occasionally enlarge or stretch and stop functioning correctly. This results in the blood leaking in the wrong direction, causing heart murmurs. Aortic regurgitation is the official term for this condition.
• Heart-related illness
  A bacterial illness of the heart’s lining, known as infectious endocarditis, can harm the heart’s valves. The valve openings will become smaller due to bacterial growth, which will impact how well blood flows through them.
• Chronic rheumatic heart disease
  People who have chronic rheumatic heart disease experience persistent inflammation in their heart valves. This impairs the organ’s functioning, affecting blood flow through them.
• Tumors
  Tumors can develop in the cardiac valves. By altering the blood flow through the heart, tumors in other areas of the organ, such as the left atrium, can result in a cardiac murmur.
• Arterial and ventricular septal
  The defects result in holes in the walls separating the upper and lower chambers, respectively.

Diagnosis
To determine whether you have an unusual heart sound, the doctor will use a stethoscope to listen to your heart. The physician may also suggest certain procedures if an abnormal heart murmur is suspected:

• X-Ray
  Check your heart muscle on a chest X-ray to see if it appears larger than it should.
• ECG (electrocardiogram)
  This test is used to examine the heart’s rhythm, pulse, and electrical activity.
• Echo
  An echocardiogram is a scan of the heart that is used to check for structural or valve issues.
• CT/MRI scan
  A CT scan and an MRI may also be required to learn more about the anatomy of your heart.
• Cardiac catheterization
  When the dye is used during cardiac catheterization, your doctor can better see your coronary vessels on an X-ray.

Treatment options
A lot of heart murmurs aren’t dangerous and do not require any therapy. However, if a murmur is brought on by a more severe disease, one might require treatment options like-

• Therapies that slow the thyroid gland, such as ACE inhibitors, antibiotics, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, anticoagulants, and/ or vasodilators.
• For some individuals, a damaged valve will need to be repaired or replaced surgically. People with mild heart valve issues, however, might not need surgery.