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"   Question I was wondering if you could provide some information on what a heart murmur is.  My 10-year-old niece has a heart murmur that I only found out about this week through my mother.  What are the long-term effects on somebody who has a heart murmur?  What treatments are available or does it necessarily mean surgery? Also, what causes heart murmurs and are they common?  My niece had an ECG (electrocardiogram) and also an echocardiogram.  She was getting her bladder and her kidneys checked last week because for the past 18 months she has had blood in her urine. Could this all be connected to her heart?  I am so very worried for her as I don&amp;#039;t have any children of my own. I would be ever so grateful if you could reply as I have got it into my head that I am going to lose her.   Answer You probably don&amp;#039;t need to be so worried about your niece, as most children with heart murmurs are able to lead normal lives, although some of them may need medication or surgery at some stage.  The term &amp;#039;heart murmur&amp;#039; refers to a noise that can be heard when a doctor listens to a person&amp;#039;s heart through a stethoscope.  The flow of blood through the various chambers of the heart is usually smooth, but if the blood flow becomes turbulent it may produce a noise that can be heard as a murmur.  However, not all heart murmurs indicate that there is something wrong with the structure of the heart; an &amp;#039;innocent&amp;#039; murmur may be found in many healthy children.  When a doctor detects a heart murmur in a child they can look for other physical signs that might indicate heart disease, as well as assessing how loud the murmur is, and seeing whether it changes when the child is moved into a different position.  The child may need to have an ECG (a recording of the heart&amp;#039;s electrical activity) and an echocardiogram (a type of scan that produces pictures of the inside of the heart), as your niece has.  This extra information can help to differentiate an innocent murmur from one which indicates that there is some defect in the structure of the heart.  The investigations that your niece is having done to examine her bladder and kidneys will hopefully show why there has been some blood in her urine, and only then will it be possible to say if there is any link between this problem and her heart murmur.  The results of the ECG and echocardiogram should make it clear whether there is any heart defect (such as a &amp;#039;hole in the heart&amp;#039;) and then the doctor looking after your niece will be able to advise whether she needs any medication or surgery, or whether the cause of her murmur is one that does not require any treatment.  Yours sincerely The NetDoctor Medical Team  Other Q&amp;amp;amp;As Our child has a heart murmur What is a heart murmur? What is a systolic murmur?  Last updated 08.05.2014 "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/ask-the-expert/pregnancy-and-family/a9734/heart-murmur-worry/>