Heart murmur Created 2026-10-31 Updated 2026-11-05
A heart murmur is an additional or prolonged sound associated with blood flow through the heart or nearby vessels, heard during auscultation. It differs from the usual brief heart sounds associated with valve closure. Some murmurs accompany structural or flow abnormalities, while others occur without significant structural disease. The sound is an observation contributing to clinical diagnosis, rather than a diagnosis uniquely identifying its cause. [ref]