Precordial Murmurs during Pregnancy and Lactation

Abstract

A VARIETY of innocent murmurs may develop during pregnancy and are often attributed to heart disease. Some of these murmurs are due to an increase in blood velocity and emanate from the heart itself, whereas others are of extracardiac origin. Grant,1 Gilston and McPhaul2 and others have described the extracardiac precordial murmurs that occur during pregnancy. Our recent experience indicates that this information should be re-emphasized. Accordingly, the purpose of this report is to describe the extracardiac murmurs in 2 cases. The precordial systolic murmur in Case 1 was due to an arterial bruit and persisted after delivery and vanished . . .