That can be determined by further testing, which usually includes and echocardiogram. An EKG is also usually done to check the electrical pathways in the heart and may show changes if one part of the heart is being forced to work extremely hard because of the problem causing the murmur. That means they well not interfere with the development or activity level of the child. Benign murmurs may be outgrown by school age. Although they bear watching, they may not require any medications or therapy or medical intervention throughout the child's life, and have a chance to go away by themselves.
Some heart murmurs, however, indicate more serious heart problems.
The most common of those is a septal defect, or a hole in the wall separating the right and left sides of the heart. A Septal Defect is repaired only if it is serious enough to cause problems or is complications develop. Small holes may grow smaller and even close by themselves as the child grows. Open heart surgery is only suggested in the most extreme cases, and, when done by experienced teams, the operation has a good safety and success rate. The outlook for persons born with a septal defect can be very good.