Innocent Cardiovascular Murmurs in the Adult

Abstract

One hundred young adults who were known to have had innocent murmurs as children were re-examined 16 or more years after the murmur was detected. In all individuals a murmur was again heard. Whether or not this was the same murmur could not be determined. While most (85 per cent) had the vibratory quality similar to the childhood vibratory innocent murmur, 87 per cent were audible at or above the third left intercostal space, a higher proportion than is usually found in children. The murmurs could be divided into three main groups: those maximum at the lower left sternal border (58 per cent), the pulmonary area (31 per cent), and the aortic area and neck (10 per cent). Only one was maximum at the apex. No true cardiorespiratory murmurs were heard. In this study the cardiac sounds and murmurs were faithfully reproduced by the taperecording equipment employed, thus supporting the view that this technic could be used in heart-screening programs but offers no advantage over simple auscultation.