heart sound
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- Key People:
- Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud
- Related Topics:
- heart rate
- heart murmur
- heart valve
heart sound, audible rhythmic vibrations in the heart, typically heard through a stethoscope pressed to the chest or back during the diagnostic procedure known as auscultation.
The heart sounds consist mainly of two separate sounds that occur when the two sets of heart valves—the atrioventricular valves (also known as the mitral and tricuspid valves) and the semilunar valves (also known as the aortic and pulmonary valves)—close. The first sound, a low-pitched, slightly prolonged “lub,” occurs when the atrioventricular valves close as the ventricles of the heart begin to contract. After a brief pause, this sound is followed by a sharper, higher-pitched “dup,” produced by closure of the aortic and pulmonary valves. In some individuals a third low-pitched, quiet sound is audible, being produced by vibrations of the ventricular wall. Rarely, a fourth sound, inaudible in most healthy individuals, may be heard when blood expelled during contraction of the atrial chambers impacts the ventricular wall.
The vibrations of the heart walls and major vessels around the heart that are associated in particular with the first two heart sounds are attributed primarily to the elasticity of the heart valves. The low-frequency first heart sound is heard when the ventricles contract, causing a sudden backflow of blood that closes the valves and causes them to bulge back. The elasticity of the valves then causes the blood to bounce backward into each respective ventricle. This effect sets the walls of the ventricles into vibration, and the vibrations travel away from the valves. When the vibrations reach the chest wall where the wall is in contact with the heart, sound waves are created.
Either partial obstruction of these valves or leakage of blood through them because of imperfect closure results in turbulence in the blood current, causing audible prolonged noises known as heart murmurs. In certain congenital abnormalities of the heart and the blood vessels in the chest, the murmur may be continuous. Murmurs are often specifically diagnostic for diseases of the individual heart valves; that is, they sometimes reveal which heart valve is causing the ailment. Likewise, modification of the quality of the heart sounds may reveal disease or weakness of the heart muscle.