pulmonary branch stenosis

Innocent heart murmurs in healthy newborns are often related to pulmonary branch stenosis (peripheral pulmonic stenosis - a narrowing of the artery in one short segment), a condition that resolves by 6 months of age. Echocardiograms (heart ultrasound exam) showed that 50% of babies with a murmur had pulmonary branch stenosis compared with 12% of matched babies who had no murmur. The research group performed follow-up investigations at 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months. The murmur had resolved in 64% of babies at 6 weeks, in 84% at 3 months and in 98% at 6 months. The pulmonary branch stenosis had resolved in all babies by 6 months. The authors concluded that "Innocent heart murmurs in healthy babies born at term are mostly related to pulmonary branch stenosis, which resolves in two thirds by 6 weeks and in all by 6 months." From Archives of Diseases of Childhood, Fetal and Neonatal Edition.

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