systolic murmur

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systolic murmur

A doctor listens to a patient's systolic murmur with a stethoscope.

Definition

Noun: A systolic murmur is an abnormal heart sound heard through a stethoscope during the systole phase of the cardiac cycle. Systole is when the heart muscle contracts to pump blood out of the ventricles. This murmur is typically a blowing, whooshing, or rasping noise caused by turbulent blood flow across a heart valve or near the heart.

Usage

The term is used in medical contexts to describe and diagnose a specific type of cardiac finding. - It is typically modified by adjectives describing its characteristics (e.g., holosystolic murmur, ejection murmur). - It is often discussed in relation to its potential causes, such as valve abnormalities.

Examples
  • The physical examination revealed a systolic murmur at the left sternal border.
  • An echocardiogram was ordered to evaluate the cause of the patient's new systolic murmur.
  • The systolic murmur was classified as grade 2/6 in intensity.
Advanced Usage
  • Innocent (or Functional) Systolic Murmur: A benign murmur with no underlying heart disease, common in children and young adults.
  • Pathologic Systolic Murmur: A murmur indicating an underlying structural heart problem, such as aortic stenosis or mitral regurgitation.
  • The timing within systole (e.g., early, mid, late, holosystolic) and the location where it is heard loudest are critical for diagnosis.
Variants and Related Words
  • Heart murmur (n): The general term for an abnormal heart sound, which can occur during systole or diastole.
  • Diastolic murmur (n): An abnormal heart sound heard during the diastole phase (when the heart relaxes and fills with blood).
  • Systole (n): The phase of the heartbeat when the heart muscle contracts.
  • Murmur (n): In a medical context, it refers specifically to an abnormal sound from the heart or blood vessels.
Synonyms
  • Cardiac murmur (when specifying it is of cardiac origin during systole).
  • Systolic heart sound (though this is less precise, as "murmur" specifically denotes an abnormal sound).
Related Phrases/Idioms

This is a technical medical term and is not used in idiomatic expressions.

systolic murmur

A doctor listens to a patient's systolic murmur with a stethoscope.

Noun
  1. a murmur heard during systole