title: The diagnosis of innocent murmurs in childhood.
abstract: Innocent murmurs are common in childhood. They require accurate diagnosis to avoid unnecessary anxiety and/or restrictions. With this in mind, we studied prospectively children diagnosed by a paediatric cardiologist as having innocent murmurs to review the necessity of investigations in excluding organic abnormalities. We included 63 children in the study. The majority had the so-called Still's, or musical/vibratory murmur. None had abnormal investigations, suggesting that such investigations are largely superfluous for the purpose of diagnosis in those patients with innocent murmurs seen by a paediatric cardiologist. They are often done, nonetheless, as part of the assessment and/or expectations of the parent or the referring physician.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Advani
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Menahem
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
mesh_terms: D001314:Auscultation; D002309:Cardiology; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color; D004562:Electrocardiography; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology; D006337:Heart Murmurs / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D006347:Heart Sounds; D006801:Humans; D010372:Pediatrics; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012017:Referral and Consultation