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A heart murmur is a noise heard in the heart when listening with a stethoscope. The noise is produced by turbulence of the blood flow - like the noise of a running stream. It can be quite normal and 90% of children will have a murmur in their heart at some stage. When a murmur comes from the normal flow of blood through a normal heart, it is called an "innocent murmur".
Often a child is referred to a cardiologist, just to ensure the murmur is benign and not caused by any minor or major heart abnormality. The noise of an "innocent murmur" is accentuated if the child has a fever, as the heart is pumping a little harder. Once the heart has been confirmed normal and the murmur innocent, there is no need for follow-up, as the murmur will eventually disappear in time. No special precautions are required
Last Updated: October 2003
Last Reviewed: November 2003
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