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Heart sounds are the noises generated by the beating heart and the resultant flow of blood through it. Specifically, the sounds reflect the turbulence created when the heart valves snap shut. In cardiac auscultation, an examiner may use a stethoscope to listen for these unique and distinct sounds that provide important auditory data regarding the condition of the heart.
Heart murmurs are heart sounds produced when blood is pumped across a heart valve and creates a sound loud enough to be heard with a stethoscope. Murmurs are of various types and are important in the detection of cardiac and valvular pathologies.
Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a valvular heart disease characterized by the displacement of an abnormally thickened mitral valve leaflet into the left atrium during systole. It is the primary form of myxomatous degeneration of the valve. There are various types of MVP, broadly classified as classic and nonclassic. In severe cases of classic MVP, complications include mitral regurgitation, infective endocarditis, congestive heart failure, and, in rare circumstances, cardiac arrest.
Mitral valve stenosis is a condition in which the canal between the left atrium and ventricle is narrowed due to disease of the cusps of the left atrioventricular (mitral) valve. Mitral valve stenosis may remain asymptomatic for years. When clinical symptoms develop, they may be similar to those of other heart diseases.
Aortic insufficiency (AI), also known as aortic regurgitation (AR), is the leaking of the aortic valve of the heart that causes blood to flow in the reverse direction during ventricular diastole, from the aorta into the left ventricle. As a consequence, the cardiac muscle is forced to work harder than normal.
Mitral regurgitation (MR), mitral insufficiency, or mitral incompetence is a form of valvular heart disease in which the mitral valve does not close properly when the heart pumps out blood. It is the abnormal leaking of blood backwards from the left ventricle, through the mitral valve, into the left atrium, when the left ventricle contracts, i.e. there is regurgitation of blood back into the left atrium. MR is the most common form of valvular heart disease.
In cardiology, an Austin Flint murmur is a low-pitched rumbling heart murmur which is best heard at the cardiac apex. It can be a mid-diastolic or presystolic murmur It is associated with severe aortic regurgitation, although the role of this sign in clinical practice has been questioned.
A transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) is the most common type of echocardiogram, which is a still or moving image of the internal parts of the heart using ultrasound. In this case, the probe is placed on the chest or abdomen of the subject to get various views of the heart. It is used as a non-invasive assessment of the overall health of the heart, including a patient's heart valves and degree of heart muscle contraction. The images are displayed on a monitor for real-time viewing and then recorded.
Valvular heart disease is any cardiovascular disease process involving one or more of the four valves of the heart. These conditions occur largely as a consequence of aging, but may also be the result of congenital (inborn) abnormalities or specific disease or physiologic processes including rheumatic heart disease and pregnancy.
In medicine, the cardiac examination, also precordial exam, is performed as part of a physical examination, or when a patient presents with chest pain suggestive of a cardiovascular pathology. It would typically be modified depending on the indication and integrated with other examinations especially the respiratory examination.
Tricuspid Valve Stenosis is a valvular heart disease that narrows the opening of the heart's tricuspid valve. It is a relatively rare condition that causes stenosis-increased restriction of blood flow through the valve.
A myxoma is a rare benign tumor of the heart. Myxomas are the most common primary cardiac tumor in adults, and are most commonly found within the left atrium. Myxomas may also develop in the other heart chambers. The tumor is derived from multipotent mesenchymal cells.
Carey Franklin Coombs was a British cardiologist.
A Graham Steell murmur is a heart murmur typically associated with pulmonary regurgitation. It is a high pitched early diastolic murmur heard best at the left sternal edge in the second intercostal space with the patient in full inspiration, originally described in 1888.
The third heart sound or S3 is a rare extra heart sound that occurs soon after the normal two "lub-dub" heart sounds (S1 and S2). S3 is associated with heart failure.
Diastolic heart murmurs are heart murmurs heard during diastole, i.e. they start at or after S2 and end before or at S1. Many involve stenosis of the atrioventricular valves or regurgitation of the semilunar valves.
A presystolic murmur, also called presystolic accentuation, is a type of diastolic heart murmur typically associated with the opening snap in mitral valve stenosis. It is heard following the middiastolic rumble of the stenotic valve, during the diastasis phase, making it a "late diastolic" murmur.
Heart murmurs are most frequently organized by timing, into systolic heart murmurs and diastolic heart murmurs. However, continuous murmurs can not be directly placed into either category.
The Gallavardin phenomenon is a clinical sign found in patients with aortic stenosis. It is described as the dissociation between the noisy and musical components of the systolic murmur heard in aortic stenosis. The harsh noisy component is best heard at the upper right sternal border radiating to the neck due to the high velocity jet in the ascending aorta. The musical high frequency component is best heard at the cardiac apex. The presence of a murmur at the apex can be misinterpreted as mitral regurgitation. However, the apical murmur of the Gallavardin phenomenon does not radiate to the left axilla and is accentuated by a slowing of the heart rate whereas the mitral regurgitation murmur does not change.
James Hope (1801–1841) was an English physician. He has been called "the first cardiologist in the modern sense". He is known for discovering the early diastolic murmur of mitral stenosis in 1829.
References
- ↑ John Willis Hurst, Valentin Fuster, R. Wayne Alexander. Hurst's the Heart, page 1637. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2001. ISBN 978-0-07-142265-9.
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