Heart Murmur in 1.5 Year Old? What to Expect at Follow up Cardiologist Appt?

My son had the same thing, went and got a EKG and they claimed it to be innocent. He is now 7 and at his last dr appt I asked if it was still there and she said it was but very very quiet so he might grow out of it or he might not but its nothing to worry about. Unless your child gets super tired easily I wouldn't stress about it too much (harder said than done when it comes to the little guys). He will be fine.

Don't worry, everything is going to be fine.

My daughter (now 15) has had a heart murmur since she was very young. I even forgot about it until I read your question. Having been married to a pediatrician, I know it is their responsibility to follow through on any finding, no matter how small. It is probably nothing significant, and the doctor just wants that medically confirmed.

She is okay, you are okay, life is good.

Sounds like you are getting a second opinion. Just this Saturday , when we took my son to the hospital (turned out he had a severe case of the flu) the doc on call says oh did you know your son has a heart murmur.. we were like, huh, no... we didn't know that.... (thinking, umm our Pediatrician never mentioned this before) and then come this Monday, we take him to our Pediatrician (again for more flu problems) we ask, do you hear a heart mumur.. she listens.... says NOPE absolutely not.. I told her that on Saturday, a doctor said she heard one.. Our doctor said, what the doctor may have heard is a "flow murmur" which is what can happen when a child has congestion... (whew, relief)

My point is... they say these things and then it can turn out to be something or NOT.. so try and not worry just yet. Additionally, you have probably done as we did.. read up on it and you might have discovered or so we've seen written that up to 50% of younger children can have a heart murmur without ever having an issue...

so try and keep your cool.... for now :)
let us know the outcome

blessings

Most of the time, this will turn out to be nothing. My son did have a hole in his heart, but the doctors did not catch it until he was 3. At the first appointment, they started with a test of the electrical signals(EKG) and then a longer test which was probably an ultrasound. It took about 45 minutes, and my son got to watch a video the whole time. Then the doctor told us what the problem was, drew a picture so we would understand, and explained that the surgery is routine and even done on much younger babies. It was stressful but we got through it. It has been 6 years since his surgery, and he's doing great.

Went through the same thing. I was so worried up until our appt. MOST heart murmurs are innocent murmurs and it's NOTHING to worry about... I'm sure it's the same scenario for your child :)

My son and my nephew both had holes in their hearts and heart murmurs at that age. Both were closed up and totally fine by the age of 2 1/2. It's extremely common. Of course, there could be a larger medical issue, but odds are that it is going to be fine.

it's good either way. either it's an innocent murmur, or there's a problem and they're going to find it now, good and early. it's always hard to hear that news (we did, when my baby was 18 months old) but if it means that murmur led them to correct an issue, that's good.
but the numbers are on your side. most murmurs don't mean anything. heck, in my kid's case the murmur led them to look more closely, but the murmur itself wasn't an issue. he's still got it. his cardiologist said it beautifully. 'everyone's heart plays its own unique tune. dylan's is just a little jazzier than most.'
hugs to you, mama! i hope, pray and believe all will be well for you.
:) khairete
S.

When my son was about a year old, a nurse that was helping us with his medication nticed a possible murmur. The cardio checked and thought it was minor and not workth following up on. When he was 4, I insisted on having it checked since it was still there. They performed an ultrasound and found that it is just a tiny string of muscle or tissue that "twangs" when his heaert pumps. Nothing to worry about and will not affect his heart functions. For my 4 yr old, her 4th chamber did not close upon birth. We had an ultrasound done about a year ago to have it checked. She turned out to be fine and it was closed. The cardiologists and technicians we saw were really great with the kids and tried to make them feel comfortable as much as possible. My son thought it was cool to see inside his body since he was able to see the screen and she pointed out his heart.

I can't, because my heart murmur lead to open heart surgery. If the EKG is adnormal, that will lead to an echocardiogram, then an angieogram to seeing a surgeon. Pray you have a normal EKG.

It really depends on the age..... at the NICU they thought they could hear a heart murmur (he was full term, but was having some breathing/heart rate problems), so they referred him to a pediatric cardiologist. I think the first one saw him at less than a couple of months old, maybe? The thought at that time was that it was just the regular sounds due to the angle of the aorta, etc... (sort of like you hear the water rushing through a bent garden hose). I think they followed up at a year, and by then, there was nothing noticed.

For the first appointment, they just did an ultrasound of the heart.... very simple, just laid him down, kept him calm, and used the ultrasound probe.

In his case, it wasn't anything... and there have been no further problems (he is now over 4...)

It's a good idea to have him checked out. I'm sure that it's nothing serious, if it's taken a year and a half to discover. My son has had a murmur since he was born. He's 5 now. He was first diagnosed with PDA, which has since resolved on its own, and now with ASD. We do an annual EKG, echo, and chest x-ray to keep an eye on it and determine if any treatment options are needed down the road. Your son will probably be wiggly while they do the exam, but there shouldn't be any discomfort. Ask lots of questions if you don't understand and be clear to ask when you need to come back, if you even need to at all. My son's first echo results were given to me by the pediatrician, rather than the cardiologist, and there was a lot of misinformation being thrown my way. Now I only talk about the results with the cardiologist. With my son's condition, I have to let the doctor and dentist know so that antibiotics can be given before certain medical and dental procedures, but that is it. Good luck with the visit!

My 10 yr old daughter has a minor/benign heart murmur. It was detected at her very first appointment with the pediatrician when she was 5 days old. He told us it sounded benign. When she was 8 months old, she saw the head doctor at the practice and he recommended a visit to a cardiologist as a precaution. She had a full work up done there including an echocardiogram. It confirmed that it was a benign murmur. We did not have to follow up with the cardiologist and she has never had any restrictions. Over time, the murmur has become harder to detect. It hasn't been detected at all for the last two check-ups.

Try not to worry!

Sorry, thought I was posting to someone else! Hope that everything turns out alright with your little one!

Yes, I will try to calm you down. My son went through this at age 3. He had had a heart murmur for quite some time, but no one referred us for follow-up until he was 3. Most heart murmurs are "innocent," but they just like to make sure. In the rare case they do find a problem, they are correctible by surgery (unlikely and scary, but surgeons can do a lot). The most difficult part of the EKG for us was having our son be completely still for the procedure. However, the pediatric cardiologist and his assistants were SOO good at this. I can't believe how well it went. The EKG confirmed for us that our son had an "innocent" heart murmur. He is 15 and still has it. I have to note it on his medical records and I periodically get asked about if he sees a new provider, but all I have to say is that it's been checked.

What to expect--cardiologists can often just listen to a heart murmur and tell if it's innocent. Sometimes they follow up with the EKG just to be sure, which is what happened in our case. We met with the doctor, they did the EKG and we were happily on our way. I can't remember what tactics they used, but my son was a VERY active 3-year-old and they did a good job getting him to be still.

Ironically, he had a preschool classmate going through the same thing at the same time. Hers was not innocent and she had to have major surgery, but it was a complete success and she was back in preschool a few weeks later from what I recall.

Good luck--chances are you doctor is right that it's no big deal and they are just being cautious. Innocent heart murmurs are very common. If your doctor isn't overly concerned she probably thinks it sounds innocent upon listening, but just wants to verify that.

Prayer is always wonderful for Moms to do, we worry about so much with our children. Prayer helps me keep a level of sanity! Heart murmurs are actually common and it may be nothing and can very well go away. Read: http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/murmurs.html
and
http://www.dukehealth.org/health_library/advice_from_doct...

I always refer people to a Naturopathic Doctor and chiropractor because they can help get to the root cause of symptoms.
http://rhcpc.com/
and
http://cchirocare.com/

The peditrician discovered my daughter had a heart murmur when she was a baby. We went to a cardiologist and it was a "functional" heart murmur. It was not a big deal. She is 14 and not had any problems.
Good luck at the doctor.

Hi,

Sorry to hear that. My son was 6 weeks old when the pediatrician heard a murmur. She said it sounds like a VSD (which is a hole in the wall between the 2 ventricles). The cardiologist did an EKG and confirmed it. It was a medium sized hole. He said small ones close by themselves and this while not small was not urgent to repair but needed to be monitored. We saw him a few more times during the year and at 1 year the cardiologist said that since it wasn't closing, we would need to surgically fix it. We did and my son is now 8 and doing wonderfully. The heart is not an issue at all anymore. Just to let you know (and I was surprised to find this out) a congenital heart defect is the most common birth defect and out of those heart defects the VSD is the most common. Yes it is a big surgery and it is a big deal but the upside is that it is very easily fixed and the surgery is not a new procedure - it is very common.

My daughter to had a murmur and we had her checked out as well - that ended up being just the sounds of the heart. Nothing else!

I wish you the very best. Please feel free to post/PM if you have any questions.

Good luck.

I had to take my son to the cardiologist when he was a month old. My doctor heard a murmur too and since my son also had a bit of blue around his mouth my doc decided that he may not be getting enough oxygen and better to be safe than sorry. The appointment wasn't too big a deal. The worst part was how scared we were that something was wrong. But I will say that it is completely normal for a young child to have a murmur. My son still has one, and my doctor told me that he will most likely outgrow it by the time he is 4 or 5 years old. I guess a lot of babies and toddlers have them. Try not to worry! I'm sure everything will be just fine :-)

My 4yo son has a complex congenital heart defect. He sees a ped. cardiologist 2x a year for a EKG and Echo. The EKG takes about 3 minutes. It takes longer to put the leads on than the actual scan itself. A murmur could mean many things. I think holes in the heart (ASD and VSD) are common and many close on their own. Best of Luck!

Well, apparently I have had a heart murmur since I was a baby and never learned about this up until about 6 years ago during a check up. My mom told me that it was never a big deal. But being safe, the doctor did an EKG and I was fitted with this heart monitor thing that I had to wear for 24 hours just so they could get a clearer picture as to what was going on and if it was a problem. It wasn't but I will say, that from time-to-time, for no reason, my heart will start to race or beat heavy and it settles itself in a bit. Can be a tad uncomfortable but nothing big since I am used to it. So see what the doctor says. Sometimes the heart just skips a bit different than normal in some people (such as myself). After 43 years, I'm still fine!

My son had a heart murmur diagnosed at 9 months old. He had an EKG next that showed an enlarged heart. Then he saw a cardiologist.

He is now 24 years old and doing great! He was diagnosed with an ASD - it is the hole in their heart the babies have while in the womb and it usually closes up in 3 months - his did not. His was surgically repaired and he is doing great.

He had 2 echo cardiograms - one at 9 months old and one at 14 mos. old. His surgery was done open heart when he was 17 months old. Now with the advancements in research, they can do this repair through the groin and open heart surgery isn't necessary.

HI M.,

I went through the same thing with my little guy about the same age. I get how you are feeling. The test it very simple and very easy to go through for your little one. It was like an ultra sound the hardest part was getting my little guy to keep the probs on which I did by giving him a snack to keep his hands busy and brought his favorite book to read him as well. It took about 20 - 30 minutes total.

My little guys test came back ok. Here is a great big hug and hope that all goes well.

Take a deep breath it will be ok :O)