Heart murmurs can be the cause of a condition such as a broken heart syndrome, which is also known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, or stress-induced cardiomyopathy. It is a heart muscle disease that can occur suddenly after severe emotional or physical stress. What are the causes of such an ailment, how does it appear, by what methods is it treated? This will be discussed in the article.
How does the disease occur?
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy can occur even in healthy people. Despite a temporary damage to the heart muscle with an average duration of 7 to 30 days, it can be severe enough to cause the patient to die.
In this article, we will explain what heart wound syndrome is, what are its causes, its symptoms, and what treatment options are.
What heart disease can cause noise
The heart is an organ formed mainly by muscles and blood vessels. What we call heart function is simply a synchronized myocardial contraction. These are the muscles that make up the ventricles and atria of the heart.
Myocardial diseases, that is, diseases of the heart muscle, are called cardiomyopathies. Broken heart syndrome is one of several existing forms of cardiomyopathy (referring to cardiomyopathies of inflammatory origin, ischemic, hypertonic, edible alcohol). They cause noise in the heart.
When the disease occurs
When the heart has weak muscles, it loses its ability to pump blood properly, leading to a condition called heart failure. Therefore, a patient with cardiomyopathy has typical symptoms of a weak and insufficient heart, and he has noise.
Medical history
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, in which heart murmurs are observed, was first described in 1990 in Japan. Since then, this form of cardiomyopathy has been increasingly recognized worldwide. Takotsubo is the name of the vessel used in Japan as a trap for capturing the octopi. This form of cardiomyopathy was named Takotsubo because the patients' left ventricle presented an expanded format similar to a Japanese vessel.
The already mentioned broken heart syndromes or stress myocardiopathy are due to the fact that the disease usually occurs after a strong emotional or physical stress. The main causes of heart murmurs are explained below.
Why makes a noise in the heart
Heart syndrome is a disease that is more common in women and older people. About 90% of cases are female, and the average age of patients is 66 years.
People with a history of neurological or mental illness tend to have a higher risk of developing heart disease, but most patients with broken heart syndrome are people who have not had a previous serious illness.
The main causes of the disease
The exact cause of Broken Heart Syndrome is still not entirely understood. We also do not know why the disease mainly affects women after menopause, and why the cardiac muscle of the apex and central part of the left ventricle are local, which are usually affected. It is believed that the cause of this cardiomyopathy may be the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline released during intense experiences.
The most acceptable theory for explaining what causes heart murmurs is that excess stress hormones can lead to diffuse and temporary narrowing of the heart arteries, causing ischemia of the heart muscle and a clinical picture similar to acute myocardial infarction.
Joyful events are also dangerous.
The difference is that with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, the arteries of the heart are not covered with atherosclerotic plaques. When a patient undergoes cardiac catheterization (coronary angiography), there is no obstructive lesion in the coronary arteries.
A broken heart syndrome is often preceded by an intense physical or emotional event. These events do not have to be bad; an older woman may experience stress-induced cardiomyopathy, knowing that she has won millions in the lottery.
Sad events are the first cause of heart problems
Some well-known causes of heart murmur in an adult that are symptoms of the development of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy:
- The news of the unexpected death of a loved one.
- Very sad news, such as a diagnosis of cancer in a close relative.
- Domestic violence.
- Sudden and unexpected loss of big money.
- Winning the lottery.
- Hot nervous discussion with someone.
- Stormy party.
- Divorce.
- Job loss.
- Car accident.
- Large financial transactions.
- Severe asthma attack.
It is important to note that although this is common, not all Takotsubo cardiomyopathies are directly related to a stressful event. In about one third of patients, scientists were unable to identify any factors that caused adult heart murmurs.
How is the disease manifested?
The clinical picture of a broken heart syndrome is very similar to the symptoms of acute myocardial infarction. Chest pain and shortness of breath are common symptoms for two ailments.
Other common signs and symptoms are:
- hypotension;
- fainting;
- heart murmur;
- cardiac arrhythmia.
Almost 10% of patients develop cardiogenic shock, with severe hypotension, loss of consciousness, and pulmonary edema. These are patients with a high risk of mortality. As in patients with acute myocardial infarction, stress cardiomyopathy also often causes changes in echocardiography typical of coronary artery ischemia and changes in the cost of troponin, which currently shows a blood test used to diagnose heart attack.
Echocardiography helps to identify areas of the left ventricle with poor contractility - a signal that is also usually present in acute heart attack. Laboratory tests, as a rule, confirm the possibility of a heart attack, and emergency cardiac catheterization is ultimately applied to most patients.
As already mentioned, the test shows that these patients do not show signs of coronary artery obstruction, excluding heart attack as a cause of functional noise in the heart. It was at this time that the doctor began to think about the hypothesis of stressful myocardiopathy.
How to treat a disease
There is no specific treatment for Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. In general, treatment is only prophylactic, aimed at symptoms, until the heart muscle has time to recover. This process usually takes 1 to 4 weeks.
In general, the drugs used are the same as those for heart failure, especially diuretics and ACE inhibitors. Mortality in a broken heart syndrome is low, less than 5%. The vast majority of patients can get a full recovery of heart function in a couple of weeks.
The fact that a person had an attack of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy after a stressful event does not mean that she will have a similar picture if she is exposed to a new influence of strong emotions. In most cases, “broken heart syndrome” is the only event in a patient’s life.
When there are problems in children
If the mother hears from the doctor that there is a heart murmur in the child, she usually begins to worry about what they mean and how dangerous these symptoms are. To exclude serious diseases, you will need to pass some tests, which will be called a doctor.
Why do children get sick?
Noises in the heart of a child, the reasons for which we will consider later, are very dangerous if the diagnosis is not timely performed.
According to cardiologists, most children are characterized by the presence of atypical sounds in the heart at different ages. This is not always a sign of the development of a pathological condition. The disappearance of symptoms can occur by itself. But these children should always be monitored by specialists.
When listening to a child, the doctor should assess the level of noise power, timbre, duration and location of this phenomenon. Analysis of heart murmurs in newborns and older children and the results of this process allow us to determine one of the causes of the phenomenon:
- A false chord is a false noise in which the presence of abnormal chords is present inside the heart ventricles. This condition is a deviation from the norm, it can affect the change in heart rate. But the presence of these structures is not dangerous due to the lack of influence on the system of intracardiac blood flow. Many children manage to defeat this ailment, the cardiovascular system is prone to restore the circulatory system, when the newborn adapts to living conditions outside the womb.
Cause of heart inflammation
Another answer to the question of what heart murmurs mean is the cause of complications after diseases of an infectious nature that were not cured in a timely manner:
- tonsillitis or rheumatism;
- pneumonia or scarlet fever.
They tend to cause serious complications in the form of inflammatory processes of the heart structures.
Pathology from birth
Causes of congenital heart defects are very common in cases of chest noise. This diagnosis can be established even for a baby in her mother’s stomach, while the fetus is in the stage of fetal development.
Related problems
The presence of heart murmur may be accompanied by conditions such as anemia or rickets. Most often, problems occur during the intensive growth of the baby. It is important to establish a diagnosis in a timely manner and prescribe treatment.
Features of diagnosing heart problems
Assessment of the work of the heart is made by the appointment of various diagnostic methods. During an ultrasound examination of a pregnant woman in a newborn, the state of all organs, including the heart, is studied.
Timely detection and diagnosis of violations of the structure or functioning of the heart can be ensured by such diagnostics:
- Echocardiography is a very informative procedure when the heart can be seen in three projections.
- Computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging - for the simultaneous assessment of the state of many organs and systems.
- Catheterization - if it is necessary to determine the pressure and oxygen level.
If there is strange noise in the child’s heart, it is important to fully examine the baby. Serious treatment may sometimes be required, including surgery in a hospital setting.
To summarize
The occurrence of noise in the heart is an abnormal phenomenon. In no case should you ignore this condition, as it can signal serious problems.
If the noise is diagnosed in a baby, both congenital heart problems and acquired diseases can occur. In the second case, the reason often lies in complications after infectious diseases. The solution to the problem varies from medical treatment to surgery in a hospital setting.