Description of Condition:
A heart murmur is an extra sound that can
be heard during chest examination with a stethoscope. The opening and
closing of the heart valves produce expected and predictable sounds in
individuals with normal heartbeats. Murmurs represent extra sounds caused
by turbulent or abnormal flow of blood past a heart valve, in the heart
itself or in great vessels (ie. aorta, pulmonary arteries).
Some murmurs occur strictly from increased flow. For example,
pregnant women often have a functional murmur due to a greater blood
volume and hyperdynamic metabolism; these are benign. Other murmurs
are due to damaged heart valves and represent significant pathology.
Damaged valves may either restrict blood flow (stenotic lesions) or
allow blood to flow back into the chamber of the heart from which it
had just exited (regurgitant lesions). Heart valves can be damaged due
to infection, trauma, heart muscle damage (myocardial infarction),
or an individual may be born with a structurally abnormal heart valve.
Fitness and Diving Issue:
Stenotic lesions, such as aortic and
mitral stenosis, restrict efficient blood flow and may have serious
consequences during exercise. Significant aortic stenosis places an
individual at greater risk for suddecardiac death while exercising;
it is a contraindication for diving. Mitral stenosis also limits the
response to exercise and, over a period of time, can result in
congestive heart failure.
Regurgitant lesions pose somewhat less of a risk during diving.
Over a period of years, the heart will be taxed by the extra work
necessary to pump blood, and heart failure may be the long-term result.
Divers with these types of heart valve problems may safely participate
in diving if they have no symptoms and have normal left ventricular
structure and function, as evidenced by an echocardiogram.
(James Caruso MD, Alert Diver, Jul-Aug 1999.)
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Cardiovascular Topics
- Hypertension
- Coronary Artery Disease
- Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack)
- Coronary Artery Bypass Graft
- Mitral Valve Prolapse
- Cardiac Dysrythmias
- Cardiac Mumurs
- Atrial & Ventrical Septal Defects
- Raynaud's Syndrome
- Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO)
- Heart Valve Replacement
- Pacemakers and Diving (.pdf)