10 Month Old with Loud Murmur

The doctor found my son's at 2 years old. He doesn't have any underlying problems, his birth was a c-section and was 2 weeks ealry. He had a echocardiogram done before he was born and they did not find anything wrong then, it was a total suprize to find it at 2 years. I was told to call the Ped. Cadiologist. He has been seen twice. His diagnosed is a large hole in his heart. At your son's age they will probally wait to see what happens. Have you seen a cardiologist yet? My son will need to have his fixed at age 4. Let us know what you find out.

M. from Lyndora..

Three months after our daughter was born we started to notice strange symptoms swollen legs, bluish face and extremities, fussiness, trouble breathing which I suspected might be related to a heart murmur doctors had told me was innocent. Her heart murmur was not innocent. Since our daughter was diagnosed with "just an innocent murmur" at birth and it was totally overlooked until it became critical, at 4 months of age she was diagnosed with 2 congenital heart defects called pulmonary stenosis (her case was severe at the time), and atrial septal defect. They are life-threatening without surgery. She had intervention done on her Pulmonary Valve back in Sept 2004. She currently has minimal blockage and the hole in her heart. The hole is a smaller-sized hole, so they just want to watch it for awhile since there are no health risk and there is a chance for it to close on its own. She will need to take antibiotics for any surgical and dental procedure. She will also continue to see her team of cardiologists and be followed by the genetic department since she also has a genetic disorder.

Hi,
My now 5 year old son was dx with a murmur when he was at his 2 yo Dr Visit. It really scared me as my bio grandmother died at 20 of a heart problem and my Mom has heart issues. We had an ecocardiogram (you need to get one) and found out it was all fine, it was an innocent murmur. The Dr explained that there was no hole in his heart and no fluid leaking from the valvues. Other symptoms to check for are if they tire easily and if they turn a blue color when exerting themselves. We had none of these problems but were still terrified. I would ask for an eco as soon as possible. I was so freaked out that I called the cariologist office every day to see if they had a cancelation. I got in the second day due to a cancleation and our appointment was over 2 weeks away. Best of luck, I know what it feels like to worry about it. Look online and you will see that most murmurs are found to be innocent.

J. Fuhrer

My son had a loud murmur as well. The doctors told me this was normal, but they still check it everytime he sees the doctor and he is now 12. It get harder to hear as he gets older, since it's not as close to his rib cage as when he was little. I would make sure to have them check it when he goes in for check ups. We haven't had any problems with it. My son has played soccer, basketball and football. He is a healthy child with no complications.

C.,
My 6 mo old has a murmur. Just for grins, he was checked out by the cardiologist to be sure everything was normal. He's fine and I'm sure your son is also.

I did quite a bit of research on the subject after Jake was diagnosed with his murmur and apparently the majority of kids have a murmur at some point in their life. Most are never discovered and of those that are, the majority are 'innocent'. I was told Jake's would go away on its own at some point. If you are concerned, ask your pediatrician for a referral to a pediatric cardiologist. The can do an EKG to rule out any problems. They also will check the pulse points to be sure they are all strong and there are no twists or kinks in the blood vessels. This is all painless and non-invasive for the baby. It is totally worth the visit just for the peace of mind.

Good luck and keep us updated!!
T.

I myself have heart problems and so does my oldest son, age 12. I would definitly seek the advice of a pediatric cardiologist. But, in the mean time, try not to work yourself into a panic. Many babies under the age of one have heart murmors. It is usually caused by a hole in the heart that closes on most babies shortly after birth. Some, it doesn't happen until they get a little bit older. Two thirds of diagnosed heart murmurs in children are harmless. But, it is still very important to have proper dianosis. The doctor will probably do an echocardiogram. As simple, non-invasive test (basically they do an ultrasound of the heart).

Hello C.,
Did your Dr tell you this about the murmur? My daughter had a heart murmur and we ended up having to get her checked by a Dr in Harrisburg. To find out she ended up having to have heart surgery at the age of 18 months then again when she was 9 years old, she is now 16 and goes to Hershey Medical center every year to get checked. I know when we were at Hershey Medical center they said that this happened at birth it wasn't something that just happened. But the family Dr that told me about it said it was so hard to hear. But thank God he sent me somewhere to get it looked on. My advice would be maybe get it checked by another Dr to make sure things are going alright. Hope this helps K.