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"A heart murmur is an abnormal heart sound caused by turbulent blood flow into, through or out of one or more heart chambers. A murmur itself is not a disease; it is just a sound that a veterinarian hears when listening to amplified heart sounds through a stethoscope. Murmurs can exist at birth or develop later in life. They can be caused by anatomical heart defects and infectious, inflammatory or other disease processes. Heart valves can be associated with murmurs due to endocardiosis, endocarditis, valvular stenosis or dysplasia. Dogs with heart murmurs may show no signs; the murmur may only be detected during a routine physical examination or when the dog sees a veterinarian for a supposedly unrelated problem. In other cases, heart murmurs reflect serious disease. Many murmurs never require medical attention, even if they are pronounced. Causes of minor murmurs often can be managed with exercise and dietary change. Surgery may be necessary for more serious heart conditions causing murmurs. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.petwave.com/Dogs/Health/Heart-Murmurs.aspx>