Heart Sounds
Auscultation of the heart is a useful skill for respiratory care. Our website provides
introductory heart sounds training, including our "Essential Heart Sounds" course, which is
outlined below.
Heart Sounds Lessons
These lesson provide an excellent way to learn heart sounds commonly observed
in primary care and respiratory care. Each lesson includes an audio recording, a written
description of the heart sound, a presentation of the heart sound's waveform
(a phonocardiogram) and a short video illustrating the sources of the heart sound.
For additional auscultation courses, we recommend the website EasyAuscultation.com.
Essential Heart Sounds
This module, 'Essential Heart Sounds', is designed to provide auscultation instruction with practice exercises. The most important heart sounds found in family practice and internal medicine are covered. Each lesson consists of multiple pages: 1) text description with audio recording; 2)a visualization page with waveform; 3) animation of the heart valves and 4) a practice page. Use the tabs which appear below each lesson's title.
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Lesson List
Heart Murmur Timing
When listening to heart murmurs, note the timing within a cardiac cycle. Systolic murmurs are heard between S1 (first heart sound) and S2 (second heart sound). Diastolic murmurs occur between S2 and S1. Murmurs can occur within systole or diastole and terms such as early systolic, mid-systolic or late systolic are used in our lessons.
Duration
The duration of a heart murmur should be noted. A murmur that lasts the entire systolic interval is called
a holosystolic murmur.
Pitch
Listening to the pitch (frequency) of the heart sound, noting if the pitch is low, medium or high.
The stethoscope's bell is useful for low pitched sounds while the diaphragm is used for medium and high frequencies.
Heart Murmur Shape
Murmurs can vary in sound intensity during a single heart beat.
Murmurs that increase in intensity are crescendo murmurs while those murmurs with decreasing sound levels are called decrescendo murmurs.
Crescendo-decrescendo murmurs have sound levels that increase then immediatly decrease in intensity.
Rectangular heart murmurs have a uniform sound intensity.