Heart Murmur Diagnosis

Did you ask the doctor if there is mroe than what they are telling you? SOmetimes you have to pry it out of them =. Just tell them to be frank with you about everything. After all you are her parent and an adult. otherwise you have every right to go to a different doctor!

L.,
First of all, there is an extra charge for crazy minds ! Now, getting to your little one's problem. A referral to a pedi heart specialist is perfectly correct. The location and size of the murmur was not specified, but the 2 areas in the normal neonatal heart that have openings causing murmurs normally close within days. If your daughter is
symptomatic...tiring easily, skin becoming dusky, nailbeds kind of bluish, then you might be concerned otherwise don't worry. The pediatric cardiologist will be able to pinpoint accurately the severity of the problem. In the meantime try to hang onto your sanity....I remind you once again....there's an extra charge for crazy. God bless you both.
A.

I am a 57 year old dgrandmother and was born with a heart murmur. There was never any problem until about 2o years ago and the murmur was Mitral Valve Prolapse. There are many symptoms and most are easily handled. I take a pill once a day and have been fine since they figured out what the problem was. I think it is good that you are going to the cardiologist but I think it could be MVP.
Hope it all goes well. I know God loves her even more than you do and will take care of her whatever the outcome!!
J.

i am in my 40's and found out about two years ago that i have a heart murmur. the heart specialist had told me; once you have one it is permaniate. it dont go away. and my friends brother had one since a child when he was born and still has it. my opinion, that is your child and that doctor needs to speak up and tell you every thing and help you how to deal with it. also i would think about maybe going to counceling to help you get through all the emotions. i personally would hound that doctor til he told me the truth of everything going on with my daughter. cc

Hi L., one of my girls was born with several holes in her heart - that's essentially what a heart murmer is - and dextracardia. Ventricular holes seem to be more common, less invasive and tend to close up somewhat as the child grows, but atrial holes (what my daughter had) typically dont. My daughter was diagnosed right after birth, so we left the hospital knowing that she would eventually have to have surgery, but she wasnt in any immediate danger. By the time she turned 2 and was scheduled for the surgery tho, her growth and weight had dropped from 75th percentile to only 25th. She was actually the same size as her 1yr old sister. Her surgery went wonderfully, and now she visits her cardiologist once a year. If you're interested, his name is Dr. Kent Ward, and is wonderful with children. He works out of Mercy and Children's Hosp. & his # is ###-###-####. If your child is otherwise healthy, the only concern your doctor may be displaying is probably in the possibility of heart attack later in her life. Having holes in her heart is causing it to work harder to get the blood flowing in the right direction and that puts an additional strain on it. I know its kinda scary, I was in shock probly until my girl was about 4 years old. Dr. Ward has been in the biz for a long time, he'll be straight with you & let you know if there's any cause for concern. He also referred me to our surgeon - one of the best in the nation. Good luck to both you and your little one, and be sure to let me know how it goes :}

I don't have any info at all, i just wanted to let you know that my prayers are with you!! You are very smart to not investigate horror stories on the internet, just pray and believe until the 28th instead!

My 3 year old ws diagnosed with a heart murmur they never caught in the 2 weeks she was in the NICU our pediatrician heard it after she was a year old. It was a hole between the upper chanbers of her heart If is was serious they would not make you wait until the 28th they would work you in . Our daughters has closed now to the point that noone would deted the murmur and she has been realeased by the cardiologist to not come back to see her for 2 years. I would not waste precious time worrying Ask your pediatrician what kind of murmus she thinks it is then you won't have to wait until the 28th she should be able to tell you gail

My son had a very faint heart murmur when he was born. It went away way before his first birthday. That is probably why they did not say any thing till now. They probably thaught that it was one that would close itself up. Just let the doctors worry for now. If your child is happy and other wise healthy then there is no reason to worry yet. I am sure that everything will turn out well.

Hi L., I was born with a heart murmur and I still have the heart murmur now I am 21 with a beautiful 1 month old, it caused no problems during pregnancy or delivery, the only thing I have to do is before I can have any dental work done I have to take 2000mg of antibiotics. It has had no effect on me other than that. So usually its nothing to be concerned about but when you take her to the dentist be sure to tell them she has a heart murmur so they can give her antibiotics before they do anything. Good Luck and Best Wishes

Every case is different, but I had a heart murmer as a child. I would go for years without a dr mentioning it. Then at a routine appt, a dr would say "has anyone told you your daughter has a heart murmer" It never affected me. I think I was about 16 the last time someone mentioned it. I'm 38 and run marathons, hadn't thought about it in years.

My son had a heart murmur that they didn't detect until he was almost 4. We were sent to a cardiologist and they did and EKG on him. The cardiologist told us, after the tests that he was pretty sure that my sone would out grow it within a few years. He did, he'll be 10 in August and he's never had any problems due to the murmur and they can no longer detect any sign of one. I hope this helps some, good luck with your duaghter.

My 6yr old daughter has a murmer. She did not have it checked by a pediatric cardiologist until she was about 4 also. They did a EKG and an ultrsound. They said she will grow out if it but will continue to monitor it to make sure. Be sure to ask or write down what type of murmer it is so you can do your own research after the appointment.

My daughter was diagnosed with a possible heart murmur last year. We were sent to a pediatric cardiologist for a Ekg or electrocardiogram. Of course, red flags went up for me because there are so many heart problems in my family. He said she had an innocent heart murmur and not to worry about it. It is not from heart disease, but could be from anemia,fever, or just a thin chest wall. It will go away as the problems clears up. If it were a non innocent murmur, it would from something abnormal in the heart or major artery. The cardiologist would instruct as to what you would need to do. Our family doctor is great, but as he said, he is not a heart specialist. We also have great confidence the heart doctor. There are times we can still hear a murmur, but she is usually sick or really tired. I have it checked regularly. If she seems extremely tired and run down, I will make an appointment and have her checked. They say you can outgrow them, but I still worry some. Take one step at a time. Let the specialist give you the answers you need after the test. She did not have the murmur, that I know of, when she was born. She was a premie, but did not have severe medical problems. I adopted her, so some of the medical background I do not know. I just take one situation at a time and try to deal with it. She is now 12. We also had to wait about 4 weeks for an appointment, so you can think of all kinds of wrong thoughts in that time span. Just think positive. There is no greater physcian than God. Give all your concerns to Him, and He will take care of them for you.

Let us know what you find out.
S. MIller

Hi L., right after my son was born the doctors detected a heart murmur and they told me it was farely common and that some babys just have it for a few days or weeks, and that most of the time it would correct iself. He had some further testing done about a week later and it did correct itself. Maybe your daughter's is just taling a bit longer. I wouldnt stress about it too much, the cardiologists are much better equiped to read the tests and decifer how serious it is.

I have not responded to a question on mamasource yet but I have worked in a cardiac practice for 9 years and felt like I should offer some reassurance! Most heart murmurs in children are called innocent or functional murmurs. They can come and go throughout childhood. They usually vary from a 1 to a 6 depending on how loud the frequency is. Most all the time a murmur is nothing to worry about unless you see other symptoms and since she is already 3 I'd say it's just this type of innocent murmur and should not pose any problems. The symptoms that would go along with this being some serious would be failure to thrive,difficulty feeding,rapid breathing, and blueness around her lips. If she had any of these, she would have probably already been checked for some type of congenital heart defect. It is common practice for a ped/family doctor to send them to a cardiologist. They will listen to the murmur to see how loud it is and in what part of the heart it is and may do an echocardiogram on her (ultrasound like when your expecting) so dont let this scare you if you get there and they want to do a test.

I'd would say if she is healthy and active without any problems then you dont have anything to worry about. Her doctor is just being cautious. I hope this helps you and let us know how her appointment goes!

My daughter had a murmur that was found at just 6 months old. This was my second child and I did have complications during pregnancy. I had polyhydramnis which is too much amniotic fluid. At inductions her cord prolapsed and they rushed me down for emergency c section. She also had hyperbirirubinemia at was readmitted at 9 days. when they found the murmur she too was evaluated at a cardiologist clinic at children's hospital. They did an echocardiogram onher which they found that 2 of her pulmonary veins were on the wrong side of her heart and she also had a hole in it. THey called it partial anomolous pulmonary venous connecton and ASD (atrial septal defect). She did end up having to have open heart surgery at 9 months old. She has since then had a second surgery due to a lymphatic vessel being hit during her open heart surgery and she has also developed vericose veins her her chest which cause her to have a stent placement before she even turned 2. With all that being said she is a very strong and intelligent 2 and a half year old right now. She has been delayed due to all the problems and hospitalizations. I wouldn't tell you to not worry cause when your child has a problem there is no way you can not worry. I would do research just so you can develop questions for the doctor and get some good information that may ease your mind just a bit. I can say out of everything that has happened to my daughter and stil is cause she has some underlying problems that she is having procedures for this week like possibly aspiration kids are resilient even more so than the parents. THey are hurt cause they had to go through such a tramatic experience but it seems that they get over it and the parents are scarred for life. I will never forget the long nights in the hospital with her pregnant, while my husband and oldest daughter which was only 11 months apart were at home. Hang in there and beaware of all pros and cons of any procedure you put your child through.

There are several types of heart murmurs, the most common seen in children are systolic murmurs. I was born with a systolic murmur, the doctors told my parents not to worry themselves over it, it might resolve itself, and when I got older I was told the same thing. I had a perfectly normal childhood, played sports, everything, no restrictions what so ever. I'm 45 now and still have the murmur. And other than taking antibiotics before dental work, or surgeries, I don't know it's there. I know when I'm sick, like the flu or something, my doctor says it's louder than normal but I don't feel anything different. I guess what I want to say is that I've had one all my life but it hasn't affected anything. But you need find out what type of murmur it is.

We have a child with VSD heart murmur. She is now 6 plays sports and is not affected but it. We have seen the cardiologist since she was 6 weeks old. We go once a year for EKG and ultra sounds. Our daughters murmur can be felt just by placing your hand over her heart. The funny thing is the whole is so small that the blood is pushed through at a faster rate making it sound bigger. Every year there are a group of interns that all get to listen to her heart then see the size on the ultra sound. She really does not mind. We were faced with the possibility of open heart surgery but her Dr wants to wait another year or two before serious talk of this issue. He has concern about later in live issue like while in child birth and the stress on the heart. However, we did yet good news while looking at the ultra sound the doctor found tissue growing close to the whole. We are praying that at next years appointment the tissue will either have the whole closed or at least showing signs that the tissue is growing enough to close the whole. This is a difficult thing to deal with. As a mother your head jumps to the worst thing possible.
Our daughters Dr is wonderful if you would like I can get you his number. He is very kind and takes time to talk to the parents about what is going on. I have been told by others he is one of the top pediatric cardiologist in the state. All I know is he is kind to both us and our daughter.

My son who is now 8 was diagnosed as an infant with a heart murmur, and it was very faint as he got older, anyway we were told to always giving him a premed before any type of surgery or dental work even just a cleaning, but I had one Dr. who couldn't really hear it all the time and sent us to a pediatric heart dr. and he was actually diagnosed last year with what they call Aortic Heart Valve Leakage, but the dr said it was not going to change his or our lifestyle, and it hasn't as of now but at least we know now that there is actually a problem and that if he is not medicated he can have severe problems. They say now without a premed if he got an infection that the only treatment is like a month long or more IV treatment in the hospital, so I am thankful that we went to the heart dr, because the not knowing of the danger is far worse than the actual diagnosis.

Hi L..

I was diagnosed with a heart murmur when I was a kid. The doctor told my mother it would not be a problem until I was maybe 30. I was very athletic (in gymnastics all through high school) and still am. I am now 55 and have the heart of a 28 year old, according to MY doctor. A LOT of people have a heart murmur, and I bet most don't even know it. It's just an active heart giving an extra beat now and then. I wouldn't worry about it too much, unless it is something more than just a heart murmur. Only your doctor can tell you that. By all means, get her checked out! Good luck, dear.

Hi L.,

I am not familiar with murmurs at all, but I felt compelled to write to ask you...do you feel comfortable with your pediatrician? I hope you do not feel intimidated by him/her, because that is the person to ask these questions to. I would not leave the dr's office until my questions were answered if you are afraid for your daughter's life. Reading the other responses, it appears that a murmur is something you can live with and still have a productive life, but it worries me that your doctor didn't tell you this before you left the office. I encourage you to check WebMD and other reliable websites so that you do not just see the "worst case scenarios", but a medical prospective about your daughters problem. Best wishes, you are in our prayers!

J.

My son, who is almost five, was born with a heart murmur and we also had to see a pediatric cardologist once a year to determine if it was goinng to be a problem. It sounds alot worse than it truely is. My son was 6 months for our first visit and really all they did was an ekg it looked more scary because of the wires but it is a simple test they even had a television in the room to help keep him distracted. He also had an ultrasound of his heart along with the ekg. The doctor then explained that many children are born with these tiny holes in between the walls of their heart creating the murmur and that they close up with age but a once a year visit would be neccessary to monitor the murmur. He grew out of his by age three but I did review the booklet on the surgery they could possibly have to proform did he not grow out of it. And thankfully it is a small producure done with any major surgery. I hope this helps you.

As with all medical conditions each individual veries but this is my daughter's story...

My daughter was born with a HM and isnow almost 6. It was heard the first day she was born and then they ran a whle lot of test and the came back (-) for a HM but a follw up at 6m was suggested. It was niot heard again guntil she wa 4m old a severlly ill and the German doc heard it and re ran all the test but by the time they ran all the test they cam back(-) foran HM. Did I tell you 3 heard it before they ran test again. We then foolw up at 12 m and 18m and the test showed nothing at all except a normal heart beat but possibly an extra beat on occasion, nothing new that is hereditary. It was heard by a ped. when she was three almost 4, but she was ill again at the time. By the time we went to the Ped. Card. She had seen her normal doctor twice and we have yet to hear it againg. Once again all the test came back (-) but the PEd Car said it is an innocent HM which could flare up when she is ill and gave us nothing to worry about.

Best to you and your family.

Hi, L., I know very little about a heart murmur as a parent.There may be different levels of a heart murmur for all I know. However, I remember that my little sister was diagnosed with one. She is now in her mid-fifties and has had no restrictions in her life. She is healthy and active! As a teen she was advised to be in tune with her heart and if if felt "different" when she was involved in heavy work or exercise to always stop and evaluate what she was feeling and why. She played collegiate tennis 2 years at an SEC school.

Your child has what is probably called a mitral valve prolapse (MPV). You can look it up on the internet. Lots of children have them -- some outgrow them and some don't, many are not even detected.

My son has one -- he is 26 now and it has never gone away. He runs, exercises, everything.....

What they will do is an echocardiagram (why an ultrasound has to have a different name when "doing" the heart, is beyond me) and look for the valve and what is called "reflux." This means the blood is going back into the atrium after the beat, rather than all flowing into the ventricles. My son does not have reflux; however, if your child does, the valves are not closing so well -- it is correctable if that's the route they choose.

If your daughter has no symptoms (short of breath -- and don't count after exercise as your guide -- dusky color, blue fingernails) then don't worry. The fact they didn't rush your daughter to the cardiologist is good! She will be fine!

In my experience, most Pediatric Cardiologists are wonderful!

M.

my baby girl was born last november and at her 1st routine visit our pediatrician detected a heart murmur. the doctor told me that it was very common and if paisley still had it at age 2 then she would refer us to a cardiologist. i was not satisfied with that answer so i took her for a 2nd opinion with our family doctor and friend. he ordered an echocardiogram, and based on the results of that, we received a referrel to okc to one of the best pediatric cardiologists in the country. the wait for that visit was excrutiating! not to mention that we had to reschedule once because of a snowstorm! when we finally got to see the doctor, they did an ekg on paisley which came out fine. the cardiologist told us that if the 'hole' closes, "fine", and if it doesn't, "fine." he never needed to see her again. after doing a little research, i learned when a baby is in utero, the lungs are bypassed because they are not used during that time. upon birth, the 'hole' or flap in the heart closes, pumping blood to the lungs. in about 50% of all births, this flap does not close right then. 1/2 of those close w/in the 1st few months and some will always have a heart murmur. i hope and pray that you experience the same outcome we did. it's something i don't even think about anymore....all my best, J.

I was born with a heart murmur (VSD) and still have it. My heartbeat just sounds like a swishing sound. I'm 40 years old now and have 2 young kids. The heart murmur has never caused me any problems. I've been athletic all of my life (in multiple sports thru grade school and high school) and have run many events, including a marathon (26.2 miles) when I was 34. I'm currently training for another marathon this year. If the doctors don't think it's a serious issue w/ your daughter, then she might have a similar situation like mine. It's there, but hasn't been a problem.

Hi L.,
My daughter's doc diagnosed her with a heart murmur when she was about 3 months also...He set her up with an appointment, the same as you and your daughter. I was terriffied the same as you also.. Worst cases going through my mind.. Most babies DO outgrow it though.. They (docs) usually do not tell the parents because of that fact. I know it sucks.. If anything is wrong with ur baby u want to know ASAP.. But my daughter did outgrow it by the time of her appointment. They hooked her up to the heart machine and found nothing!!!!! I do understand how scared and worried that u are about ur baby.. Just try to keep postive thoughts!! I also know thats easier said than done. Good luck sweetie... and please keep me updated. Best of wishes to u and ur beautiful daughter!!! **HUGS**
J.

I have lived with a heart murmur all my life, 30 years old. While a was a child I had no problems what so ever with it. I was a very activite kid. It is not much to worry about as long as your child doesn't show any signs of being short of breath and really tired all the time.

I have never grown out of it. My son is 9 years old and has one too.

I now take meds for mine, but only after I had a my son. The carry and birth of the child strand my heart very bad. But still I have no problems, just see the doctor every 6 months to watch it. The doctor says I am doing great.

My son is the most outgoing and activite kid on the planet, you wouldn't even know that he has a heart murmur.

Don't let yourself stress about it. Everything will be great. it is good you are going to a heart doctor with her, they will answer all your questions. By the way no questions are dumb when it comes to the heart.

Keep your chin up it will all be okay.

A heart murmur can mean many different things. I hesitate to tell you my experience because it is not so good, but I do not think that your case will be at all similar. First of all, the doctor probably was not concerned about the heart murmur before this point because he most likely thought it was a regular heart murmur. Many people can have a "heart murmur," which just means that there is a swishing noise that the heart makes during its pumping. This is often a normal functioning noise for some people and does not mean anything about their heart. I have a friend with two daughters who had heart murmurs that turned out to be this kind.

The other kind of heart murmur is one that is a sign of a heart defect. Many times a doctor can tell what defect from the sound and timing of the murmur. I'm assuming that your doc probably assumed that the murmur your daughter has was of the first kind, but because it has not gone away wants it checked for other possibilities. You may very likely go to the specialist appointment to find out that nothing is wrong, so please don't let the rest of this make you worry more than necessary.

First off, let me describe some of the things that they may do at the appointment. My daughter had her first pediatric cardiologist appointment at 2 months old, so it may be a bit different for a 3 1/2 year old, but just in how hard it may be for her to cope with the different situations. You may want to prepare her for what they might do, but tell her that it won't hurt at all. (At least I can think of nothing they would do that would hurt.) We had three tests done while there: a chest x-ray (which for Emma meant she was strapped into a very awkward holder to hold her still, but I don't think they would have to do that for a 3 1/2 year old), a electrocardiogram (I think that was what it was called, but basically consists of putting a whole bunch of wires with sticky pads onto her chest and stomach and using the output from them to tell issues with the heart), and an echocardiogram (which is basically an ultrasound of the heart). Again, all of these were completely painless and my 2 month daughter did very well with them except for the x-ray holder thing.

For us, her heart murmur turned out to be a hold in the wall between her ventricles. Her hole was quite large and required open heart surgery to patch. A hole in the heart (or VSD-ventricular septal defect) is the most common congenital heart defect. Often the hole is not large enough to cause any issues and they can go through life without any correction. If you daughter is not showing signs of struggle with breathing or activity, you may be dealing with something like this. For us, my daughter was having very serious growth and development issues as well as breathing troubles. Despite this the doctors were quite confident that the surgery would go well and correct her problem. In some sense they were correct, it is just that they did not know at that point the other problems she had that showed up after this one issue was corrected. We now think that she was dealing with a genetic chromosome issue. She passed away at 7 months, but they do not think that it was completely due to her heart issues.

Again, I want to say that I do not want you to worry because of our experience. There are most likely other things that would cause a murmur, but I do know that VSD is a common one. But like I also said, it is something that in the absence of other problems can either be ignored, treated with medication, or easily corrected with surgery. If you have more questions for me feel free to ask. I don't mind answering any of your questions. I hope and pray that your daughter is completely fine and that you will come away from the appointment being reassured of that. :)

Hi L.,
I am mom to 3 boys ages almost 2, 5 and almost 12. The 12 yr old was diagnosed with a heart murmur at around 4 yrs. We too were refered to the pediatric cardiologist for an EKG. They confirmed the murmur calling it a "regular irregularity." In other words, it is normal for him. He has never had an once of trouble with it. I do need to take him back for a follow up, they said every 5 years. It has been over 7 now. The Dr. said he could outgrow it, but it shouldn't cause him any trouble. It hasn't! He is very active in sports and is a normal boy. I hope this eases your mind a little. Good luck.
D.

I had one when I was born but outgrew it. I think your doctor is right to have it checked out if it is still persisting when your daughter is 3 and a half. I don't have any further expertise to offer except see what the tests say and consult another doctor if you aren't sure about a diagnosis.

Heart murmurs can indicate various heart "defects." I was born with a heart murmur and the doctor actually told my parents not to get too attached to me. My eventual diagnosis was pulmonary stenosis. (basically, a valve that is not open wide enough) I had surgery at 3.5 years old. These days, they would likely do angioplasty rather than open heart surgery. Anyway, children are very resiliant. I don't remember any pain, only gifts and all of the attention. I am a happy, healthy married mother of three girls. None of my children have any heart problems. I have no ill effects from the surgery. I still have a murmur that facinates new doctors, but is not a signal of a problem. With today's medical advances, if the doctors find anything, it will likely be an easy fix. Just remember that your child is not turning blue and has not shown signs of a problem for 3.5 years. If there was a bad problem, she would have likely had signs of it. You are smart not to read scary things on the internet before the appointment.

I was born with a heart mumur that was not found until I was 6 or 8 years old. It was found at my annual exam and they heard a very faint swishing sound when they listened to my heart. We did several XRays and they found that it was the size of the head of a straight pin. I had the evaluation with the cardiac specialist to determine the course of action follow - surgery or wait to see if it closed on it's own. Since it did not affect me physically they decided to just keep an eye on it and I was seen by a doctor at least 2 times a year. We lived in MN and the Mayo clinic had a free clinic they held certain months for people who could not afford to come to the Mayo Clinic but needed that level of care. My mother was raising 5 kids on her own so we qualified. The murmur slowing closed over the years and at age 14 it was completely closed - could not be heard or seen on Xrays. I have not had any problems since then and I am 41 years old. Wait to see what the cardiac specialist says. Even if they do decide to do open hear surgery she can still lead a very active life. I played volleyball with a girl that had open heart surgery as a child and she was very athletic. I am planning to have a child within the next 2 years and this is not even a concern for the doctors. I have no blood pressure issues or any heart related health issues. I hope hearing from someone who had the same health issue as a child gives you some peace and helps you with the anxiety I know you are feeling at this time. Just remember God will provide and protect. God's blessings on your family.

my son was born with a murmer. He had ASD/VSD....basically twp holes in his heart that caused the murmer. He had seen a cardiologist from birth (now 3). They said they are really common. He has outgrown one of the holes and the other hole is closing. He later developed Pulmonic Stenosis, which is more serisous...but he is uneffected by it. We just have regular checkups with the cardiologist and he watches it.

Don't play worse case scenerios...just pray and see the doctor.

M.

Hi L.,
I wouldn't be too concerned. I am a little surprised that they are just now having it checked out. My son now 4 was born with a heart murmur and he still has it. They did an echocardiogram and it is an "innocent" murmur. He will probably always have it, but there are no issues or complications. Was your child sick at the last appointment? For some reason my doctor said that when the child is sick the murmur is more pronounced. Good luck and keep positive I'm sure it is all fine.

Hi! My son also was diagnosed, at his first checkup, with a heart murmur. They aparently did not hear it in the hospital, but he did. I was worried sick. I called my mom when I got home and told her. She told me that I had had a heart murmur when I was a baby too. It has closed, I am fine, and I had no idea. My son got checked out again too, but they think his has also closed. He is now just-turned-two and just fine. I am sure there are instances when it can be serious, but I hope you don't worry too much. My doctor would only send my son to a specialist just to make sure. But either way, you and your family are in my prayers.

My daughter is 7 years old and still has a heart murmur. She is doing great with it. Don't worry to much, some of us have a heart murmur and some of us don't. It's just the way we are put together.