Portal:Medicine/Selected article/48, 2007

The heart sounds are the noises (sound) generated by the beating heart and the resultant flow of blood through it. This is also called a heartbeat. In cardiac auscultation, an examiner uses a stethoscope to listen for these sounds, which provide important information about the condition of the heart.

In healthy adults, there are two normal heart sounds often described as a lub and a dub (or dup), that occur in sequence with each heart beat. These are the first heart sound (S₁) and second heart sound (S₂), produced by the closure of the AV valves and semilunar valves respectively. In addition to these normal sounds, a variety of other sounds may be present including heart murmurs and adventitious sounds.

Heart murmurs are generated by turbulent flow of blood, which may occur inside or outside the heart. Murmurs may be physiological (benign) or pathological (abnormal). Abnormal murmurs can be caused by stenosis restricting the opening of a heart valve, causing turbulence as blood flows through it. Valve insufficiency (or regurgitation) allows backflow of blood when the incompetent valve is supposed to be closed. Different murmurs are audible in different parts of the cardiac cycle, depending on the cause of the murmur.

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