heart murmur.

Deliverance

Hi I have a 19 month old girl who is beautifull, obviously. I'm concerned because the docs said when she was very young that she had a heart murmur. A routine check up some time afterwards showed that the murmur was almost completely gone.

Recently another routine test showed that the murmur was still there and had not been picked up properly earlier.
This concerns me because she is very active in bursts but tires in between bursts and flops down sucking her thumb like she's just run the 100 meter race.
Is this normal for a 19month old? I'm only concerned because of the doc report and I'm a new inexperienced parent. Thanks for any replies.

The Corinthian

Depends on the type of heart murmur. There's a lot of heart murmurs that are quite harmess or even heal themselves during childhood.

I have a hereditary one (or had, it's likely gone by now) myself, from birth, and the only difference it ever made to me is that I would have to get as ECG before any surgery, just to be on the safe side.

deisemum

There are different types of heart murmur and until it's investigated you wont really know what you're dealing with.

My parent's were told mine was due to being a premature baby and it wasn't picked up until I was 12. My parents didn't tell me so you can imagine my shock when I was 18 and went for a medical only for the Dr to come out with "you know with your heart condition".

The only thing I have to do is take antibiotic cover before dental treatment.

My brother has a heart murmur too. Don't know about the rest of my siblings.

Trinity

Did they say what type?

Both myself and my son have 'innocent' heart murmurs - and they are exactly that - innocent. I only found out about mine a few months ago and i am 32
It is frightening to hear about your kids though so dont be afraid to go along to your GP and ask as many questions as you need to.

dame

Our daughter had regular check-ups (for something else) every week for her first six weeks and we knew nothing of any heart murmur until the last of those check-ups, when the paediatrician said we should ask her GP to check her murmur was gone when she was about 6 months old. We questioned him further and it transpired it hadn't been noticed until she was 3 weeks old. Needless to say, that was a bit of a shock but when we brought her to our GP a few days later he said the murmur was nearly healed already and that there wasn't really any need to check it again. We did just for peace of mind and it had disappeared before she was six months old. He said the type she had was pretty common, nothing to worry about and usually took care of itself within a short time (first six months).

All kids are different and no complaint will affect each child in the same way. Ask the doctor to explain it all to you and tell him/her of all your concerns. They're the only people who can really advise on a specific situation, or allay your fears.

Deliverance

The Corinthian wrote:

Depends on the type of heart murmur. There's a lot of heart murmurs that are quite harmess or even heal themselves during childhood.

I have a hereditary one (or had, it's likely gone by now) myself, from birth, and the only difference it ever made to me is that I would have to get as ECG before any surgery, just to be on the safe side.

The murmur is a tiny hole in a wall of one of the heart valves which injects oxygenated blood into the unoxegated side. We were lucky, we had a specialist who had a student and he was great and explained all to us and the student at the same time.

It seems like the main danger is if she ever had to have an operation then she would just have to have extra antibiotics as bacteria could lodge and grow in the hole.

The worry I had was that on her second scan it showed that the murmur was almost gone (relief). But a recent third check revealed that the murmur was missed on the second check this made me concerned which led me to ask you folks with experience.

Thanks for the feedback it really puts my mind at rest. Being a parent is great but it is really scary at times. Thanks again to all.

InFront

Hi OP, there's a really good site here for parents of kids with all sorts of these troubles including murmurs. It's a trustworthy site and sometimes medics for whatever reason don't explain things to full completion, or sometimes parents have questions they forgot to ask, etc, and maybe it might be useful just as an aid.
And as other posters have said, lots of people have murmurs and get along just fine.

Deliverance

InFront wrote:

Hi OP, there's a really good site here for parents of kids with all sorts of these troubles including murmurs. It's a trustworthy site and sometimes medics for whatever reason don't explain things to full completion, or sometimes parents have questions they forgot to ask, etc, and maybe it might be useful just as an aid.
And as other posters have said, lots of people have murmurs and get along just fine.

V.good, thank you for taking the time to put that up, the doctors are great but there is always that question which you forget to ask.

limklad

OP, I had a heart murmer as a child, and it was very serious at the time and the nurses were very worried. Lucky for me it was caught before an operation and with medical help. I am now very healthy and very active. I can even donate blood which is not a problem. Also the Blood clinic do know my medical history and I never had an episode (fainting, etc) after donating blood.

So with that do not worry about how much this will affect her life, Follow the procedures and any treatment that the doctors gives you.

Deliverance

limklad wrote:

OP, I had a heart murmer as a child, and it was very serious at the time and the nurses were very worried. Lucky for me it was caught before an operation and with medical help. I am now very healthy and very active. I can even donate blood which is not a problem. Also the Blood clinic do know my medical history and I never had an episode (fainting, etc) after donating blood.

So with that do not worry about how much this will affect her life, Follow the procedures and any treatment that the doctors gives you.

Thanks, from what I have got so far from yourself and other good people who posted it seems that it is not a serious problem. The issue to watch for is if an operation is ever needed then extra antibiotics are needed. Very nice of you all to reply and alleviate the worries, much appreciated.

deisemum

Deliverance wrote:

Thanks, from what I have got so far from yourself and other good people who posted it seems that it is not a serious problem. The issue to watch for is if an operation is ever needed then extra antibiotics are needed. Very nice of you all to reply and alleviate the worries, much appreciated.

Dentists will want you to take antibiotic cover before dental treatment, usually a sachet one hour before treatment.

limklad

Deliverance wrote:

Thanks, from what I have got so far from yourself and other good people who posted it seems that it is not a serious problem. The issue to watch for is if an operation is ever needed then extra antibiotics are needed. Very nice of you all to reply and alleviate the worries, much appreciated.

No problem, glad to help.