Prevalence and etiology of heart murmurs in first-grade student of Kerman in ۱۹۹۸-۱۹۹۹

Heart murmurs are a common finding during physical examination of children but most of them are innocent or normal.recognizing the etiology of heart murmurs can help us in differential diagnosis of them.the peresent study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and etiology of heart murmurs  in ۴۷۶۱ school children.the sex ratio was nearly ۱:۱ ,murmurs were heard in ۴۵۹ students (۹.۶۴%) with no statistical difference between boys and girls(p>۰.۰۵).Innocent murmurs found in ۲۹۸(۶۴.۹۲%) and pathologic murmurs in ۱۶۱ ones(۳۵.۰۸%).most(۹۱.۹۳%) pathologic murmurs were valvular in origin and the rest(۸.۰۷%) were a sign of intracardiac shunts.mitral valve prolapsus (MVP) was the most common valvular abnormality(۷۷.۰۳%).MVP was ۱-۱۷ times more prevalent in girls than in boys (p<۰.۰۵).next common forms of valvular lesions were pulmonic stenosis(۰.۴۶%) and aortic valve stenosis(۰.۱۹%).pulmonic stenosis was ۲.۶۷ times more prevalent in boys than in girls(p<۰.۰۵),nd aortic stenosis was seen only in boys (p=۰.۰۰۲).atrial septal defect (ASD) was the most prevalent foem of intracardiac shunts(۰.۱۹%),and was ۸ times more common in girls than is boys(p=۰.۰۱۸).the present study comfirms previous investigations that murmurs are frequently found in school children and most of them are innocent requiring no diagnostic or therapeutic modality other than history taking and careful physical examination.on the other hand,children with pathological murmurs ought to be referred to a pediatric cardiologist for treatment if needed.

Keywords:

Heart murmurs , School Children , Prevalence , etiology , Kerman