Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Pediatric Heart (Expert Forum)
silent heart murmur
Answered by
Jeffrey R Boris, M.D. - Pediatric Cardiology, Ambulatory Cardiology
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia - PA
Questions in this forum are answered by pediatric cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons and anesthesiologists from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. This forum is for questions and support about pediatric heart problems, symptoms and topics such as heart murmurs, palpitations, fainting, chest pain, congenital heart defects (including management and intervention), fetal cardiology, adult congenital cardiology, arrhythmias and pre-participation athletic screening.
Doctor's Answer
by Jeffrey R Boris, M.D., Sep 21, 2009 07:27PM
, Sep 21, 2009 07:27PMTo: cjmarti
Dear CJ,
A heart murmur is the term that we use when we are describing an extra sound in the heart. That sound is caused by turbulent blood flow. The turbulence can be normal or abnormal; abnormal means that there is something structurally wrong with the heart. Normal means that we can just hear the blood flowing through the heart normally. Therefore, there is no such thing as a silent heart murmur. There can be silent cardiac defects. However, they do not cause obesity.
The normal weight range for a 3 year old is between 25 and 45 pounds. Obviously, I do not have all of the information about your grandson, nor can I evaluate him. I do not know if his height is appropriately proportional to his weight, nor do I know if his parents are exceedingly tall; if so, this could be genetic. However, the more likely explanation is that he is, in fact, eating too much calorically dense food and is significantly overweight. I would recommend that he be evaluated by a pediatrician, who can get a complete history (including diet) and examination. If there are specific concerns about certain body systems, such as endocrine or genetic, he can be referred for further evaluation for these.
A heart murmur is the term that we use when we are describing an extra sound in the heart. That sound is caused by turbulent blood flow. The turbulence can be normal or abnormal; abnormal means that there is something structurally wrong with the heart. Normal means that we can just hear the blood flowing through the heart normally. Therefore, there is no such thing as a silent heart murmur. There can be silent cardiac defects. However, they do not cause obesity.
The normal weight range for a 3 year old is between 25 and 45 pounds. Obviously, I do not have all of the information about your grandson, nor can I evaluate him. I do not know if his height is appropriately proportional to his weight, nor do I know if his parents are exceedingly tall; if so, this could be genetic. However, the more likely explanation is that he is, in fact, eating too much calorically dense food and is significantly overweight. I would recommend that he be evaluated by a pediatrician, who can get a complete history (including diet) and examination. If there are specific concerns about certain body systems, such as endocrine or genetic, he can be referred for further evaluation for these.
Recent Videos
RSS
Expert Activity
Related Expert Forums
Related Communities
