cardiology Cardiology () is the study of the heart. Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery di ...

, an Austin Flint murmur is a low-pitched rumbling

heart murmur Heart murmurs are unique heart sounds produced when blood flows across a heart valve or blood vessel. This occurs when turbulent blood flow creates a sound loud enough to hear with a stethoscope. The sound differs from normal heart sounds by th ...

which is best heard at the

cardiac The heart is a muscular organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the tissu ...

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics) A-Bomb Abomination Absorbing Man Abraxas Abyss Abyss is the name of two characters appearing in Ameri ...

. It can be a mid-diastolicEric J. Topol
The Topol Solution: Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine
Third Edition with DVD, Plus Integrated Content Website, Volume 355. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Oct 19, 2006; page 223. or

presystolic murmur A presystolic murmur, also called presystolic accentuation, is a type of diastolic heart murmur typically associated with the opening snap in mitral valve stenosis. It is heard following the middiastolic rumble of the stenotic valve,Eric J. Topo ...

. It is associated with severe

aortic regurgitation Aortic regurgitation (AR), also known as aortic insufficiency (AI), is the leaking of the aortic valve of the heart that causes blood to flow in the reverse direction during ventricular diastole, from the aorta into the left ventricle. As a conse ...

, although the role of this sign in clinical practice has been questioned.

Mechanism

Echocardiography Echocardiography, also known as cardiac ultrasound, is the use of ultrasound to examine the heart. It is a type of medical imaging, using standard ultrasound or Doppler ultrasound. The visual image formed using this technique is called an ec ...

, conventional and colour flow

Doppler ultrasound Doppler ultrasonography is medical ultrasonography that employs the Doppler effect to perform imaging of the movement of tissues and body fluids (usually blood), and their relative velocity to the probe. By calculating the frequency shift of a ...

, and cine

nuclear magnetic resonance Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are disturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a ...

(cine NMR) imaging suggest the murmur is the result of (aortic regurgitant) flow impingement on the inner surface of the heart, i.e. the

endocardium The endocardium (: endocardia) is the innermost layer of tissue that lines the chambers of the heart. Its cells are embryologically and biologically similar to the endothelial cells that line blood vessels. The endocardium also provides prot ...

Classical description

Classically, it is described as being the result of

mitral valve The mitral valve ( ), also known as the bicuspid valve or left atrioventricular valve, is one of the four heart valves. It has two Cusps of heart valves, cusps or flaps and lies between the atrium (heart), left atrium and the ventricle (heart), ...

leaflet displacement ''and'' turbulent mixing of anterograde

mitral The mitral valve ( ), also known as the bicuspid valve or left atrioventricular valve, is one of the four heart valves. It has two Cusps of heart valves, cusps or flaps and lies between the atrium (heart), left atrium and the ventricle (heart), ...

flow and retrograde

aortic The aorta ( ; : aortas or aortae) is the main and largest artery in the human body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart, branching upwards immediately after, and extending down to the abdomen, where it splits at the aortic bifurc ...

flow: Displacement: The

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

jets from the aortic regurgitation strike the anterior leaflet of the

, which often results in premature closure of the mitral leaflets. This can be mistaken for mitral stenosis. Turbulence of the two columns of blood: Blood from

left atrium The atrium (; : atria) is one of the two upper chambers in the heart that receives blood from the circulatory system. The blood in the atria is pumped into the heart ventricles through the atrioventricular mitral and tricuspid heart valves. ...

to left ventricle and blood from aorta to

left ventricle A ventricle is one of two large chambers located toward the bottom of the heart that collect and expel blood towards the peripheral beds within the body and lungs. The blood pumped by a ventricle is supplied by an atrium, an adjacent chamber in t ...

Name

The Austin Flint murmur is named after the 19th century American

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, Austin Flint (1812–1886). He disapproved of associating any physical sign with the name of the original describer, and wrote, "So long as signs are determined from fancied analogies, and named from these or after the person who describes them, there cannot but be obscurity and confusion."

References

{{Cardiovascular system symptoms and signs Heart murmurs