Key information about heart murmurs includes the following:
A heart murmur is an extra or unusual sound heard during your heartbeat. Murmurs range from very faint to very loud and sometimes sound like a whooshing or swishing noise.
Most heart murmurs are harmless (innocent).
Sometimes a heart murmur indicates a heart problem, especially if other signs or symptoms of a heart problem are present.
Innocent, harmless murmurs are common in healthy children. A child or adult with an innocent murmur has a normal heart.
Doctors listen carefully to the heart with a stethoscope to help decide if a murmur is innocent or abnormal.
Doctors listen to the loudness, location, and timing of the murmur in order to classify and describe the sound.
Most abnormal murmurs in children are due to congenital heart disease (heart defects present at birth).
In adults, abnormal murmurs are most often due to heart valve problems caused by infection, disease, or aging.
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