INNOCENT MURMURS IN THE ADULT

It is commonly believed that innocent murmurs of childhood and adolescence usually disappear in early adulthood. Markedly different conclusions have recently been reported by Weaver and Walker.¹ These investigators identified murmurs in 100% of 100 individuals who had innocent murmurs as children 16 or more years previously. Clinical, electrocardiographic, and fluoroscopic study provided evidence that pathologic cardiac conditions were not present in the adult subjects. The murmurs were early- or mid-systolic in timing, and in 85% of patients the sounds were described as resembling the usual functional murmur heard in children. The murmur was diminished by inspiration in all, and the intensity was increased by exercise in 84 patients. The location of maximum intensity varied, although approximately one half of the adult murmurs were found at the lower left sternal border and one half at the base of the heart and in the neck. This study provided a comparison