Occasionally, high rates of blood flow across normal heart valves can cause a murmur, which is sometimes labeled a flow murmur or innocent murmur because it does not reflect an underlying abnormality in the structure of the heart. These murmurs can become more pronounced when circulating blood flow is increased, as is the case during pregnancy or in disease states such as hyperthyroidism or anemia. While not every heart murmur requires additional diagnostic testing, an echocardiogram may often be helpful in further evaluating murmurs. If you have a murmur and underlying heart disease has been excluded, you are generally not at increased risk of developing cardiac disease in the future.
Do I have to take prophylactic antibiotics before any kind of surgery, including dental, if I have a heart murmur?
You need to discuss this with your healthcare provider. It depends upon both the cause of the heart murmur and the type of surgical procedure planned. Not all murmurs reflect disease of the heart's valves. However, when the heart valves are significantly diseased, you should use antibiotics at the time of dental work and other nonsterile procedures such as urinary catheterization, prostate surgery, tonsillectomy/adnoidectomy, or certain gastrointestinal procedures.
