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What Does an Aortic Stenosis Murmur Sound Like
Medically reviewed by Uzochukwu Ibe, MD, MPH — By James Roland on September 15, 2022Share on PinterestSean Locke/Stocksy UnitedThe aortic valve allows blood to leave the heart and travel through the aorta, which is the largest artery in the body. Aortic stenosis is when this heart valve narrows and doesn’t open fully.
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Andrew Wilson 1 minutes ago
The sound of blood moving through the narrowed valve is called aortic stenosis murmur. A healthcare ...
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Andrew Wilson 1 minutes ago
Aortic stenosis murmur is one of a few different types of heart murmurs. It can sometimes be the fir...
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Lucas Martinez Moderator
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The sound of blood moving through the narrowed valve is called aortic stenosis murmur. A healthcare professional can often detect it by listening to your heart with a stethoscope. The murmur has a high pitch.
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Lucas Martinez 3 minutes ago
Aortic stenosis murmur is one of a few different types of heart murmurs. It can sometimes be the fir...
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Oliver Taylor Member
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Aortic stenosis murmur is one of a few different types of heart murmurs. It can sometimes be the first clue that heart valve disease is present and that a more in-depth medical evaluation is necessary. In mild cases of aortic stenosis, regular monitoring may be all that’s necessary.
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Zoe Mueller 1 minutes ago
For more severe cases, aortic valve repair or replacement may be needed.
What is an aortic ste...
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Emma Wilson Admin
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For more severe cases, aortic valve repair or replacement may be needed.
What is an aortic stenosis murmur
The sound of blood flow through the heart’s four valves is usually described as “lub-dub”: The “lub” sound is the beginning of the heart’s contraction (systole) as the mitral and tricuspid valves close and the aortic and pulmonary valves open. The “dub” sound represents the closure of the aortic and pulmonary valves and the opening of the other two valves.
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Nathan Chen Member
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Aortic stenosis prevents healthy blood flow out of the left ventricle into the aorta, which supplies blood to most of the body. When healthy blood flow is disrupted by a problem with one or more heart valves, a different sound emerges. These changes are called heart murmurs.
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Nathan Chen 8 minutes ago
They may be slight and difficult to detect or very obvious and accompanied by other symptoms of valv...
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Harper Kim Member
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They may be slight and difficult to detect or very obvious and accompanied by other symptoms of valve disease.
Grading system for heart murmur intensity
Heart murmurs are sometimes characterized as “whooshing” or “swishing” sounds. Doctors grade them from 1 to 6 based on loudness or intensity:Grade 1: faint murmur, barely audibleGrade 2: soft murmurGrade 3: easily audible but without a palpable thrillGrade 4: easily audible murmur with a palpable thrillGrade 5: loud murmur, audible with stethoscope lightly touching the chestGrade 6: loudest murmur, audible with stethoscope not touching the chest
Most murmurs will increase or decrease in volume when you perform certain maneuvers.
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Ella Rodriguez Member
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Doctors use this dynamic quality of murmurs as a clinical tool during physical exams to help diagnose a specific murmur.
Are there different types of heart murmurs
Most heart murmurs can be categorized into a few different types:Systolic: the murmur can be detected when the heart is contracting (systole)Diastolic: happens when the heart is resting (diastole)Continuous: the murmur occurs when the heart is pumping or at rest
An aortic stenosis murmur is a systolic murmur because it occurs as blood is trying to move through the constricted opening of the stiffened aortic valve.
What are the symptoms of aortic stenosis
You may have symptoms of aortic stenosis separate from the murmur.
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Grace Liu Member
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However, symptoms don’t usually occur until blood flow is significantly restricted. When symptoms do develop, they can include:chest paindifficulty exercising, including walking or climbing stairsdizziness or lightheadednessracing or fluttering heartshortness of breathtrouble sleepingfainting
Aortic valve stenosis can affect anyone, but it’s more common in older adults, often from calcium buildup in the valve flaps or leaflets.
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Kevin Wang 2 minutes ago
When aortic stenosis is diagnosed in young people, it’s usually because they were born with a faul...
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Mia Anderson 3 minutes ago
How do you know what an aortic stenosis murmur sounds like
When aortic stenosis is diagnosed in young people, it’s usually because they were born with a faulty aortic valve. In these cases, the person was born with a valve that has two leaflets instead of three leaflets in the aortic valve.
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Noah Davis 7 minutes ago
How do you know what an aortic stenosis murmur sounds like
Aortic stenosis murmur makes...
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Henry Schmidt 42 minutes ago
If the crescendo occurs early in systole, the stenosis tends to be mild. As the valve disease worsen...
How do you know what an aortic stenosis murmur sounds like
Aortic stenosis murmur makes a high-pitched sound. The point at which it occurs during systole often reveals the severity of the valve problem. Researchers in a 2021 article noted that aortic stenosis murmur is often illustrated in a diamond shape, with a crescendo at the widest part of the diamond and the decrescendo at the diamond’s narrowest points.
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Ethan Thomas 3 minutes ago
If the crescendo occurs early in systole, the stenosis tends to be mild. As the valve disease worsen...
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Mason Rodriguez 7 minutes ago
This is because it takes longer for the left ventricle to pump as much blood as it can through the n...
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Ethan Thomas Member
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If the crescendo occurs early in systole, the stenosis tends to be mild. As the valve disease worsens, the crescendo moves to a later portion of systole.
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Daniel Kumar Member
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This is because it takes longer for the left ventricle to pump as much blood as it can through the narrow valve, and the valve closure is usually delayed, too.
How is an aortic stenosis murmur diagnosed
When a doctor or other healthcare professional listens to your heart with a stethoscope, the process is called auscultation.
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Isaac Schmidt 22 minutes ago
One of the key things they’re listening for is the “lub-dub” sound or any possible variation t...
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Zoe Mueller 22 minutes ago
This test uses sound waves to create moving images of an organ on a computer monitor. A special kind...
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Amelia Singh Moderator
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One of the key things they’re listening for is the “lub-dub” sound or any possible variation that could indicate heart trouble. Other tests can indicate the presence of aortic stenosis and the disruption of robust blood flow through the aortic valve. One of the main screening tools is an echocardiogram.
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Ella Rodriguez Member
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This test uses sound waves to create moving images of an organ on a computer monitor. A special kind of echocardiogram called a transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) uses a thin, flexible ultrasound probe that’s lowered through the esophagus near the heart so it can provide even more detailed images of the aortic valve. Sometimes, a doctor may order the following tests to confirm or rule out an aortic stenosis diagnosis:cardiac CT scancardiac MRIchest X-rayelectrocardiogramexercise stress test
How do you treat an aortic stenosis murmur
Aortic stenosis murmur is only a symptom.
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Scarlett Brown 4 minutes ago
This means effective treatment of aortic stenosis should eliminate the murmur and other symptoms. Th...
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Grace Liu 8 minutes ago
They may also recommend monitoring the valve for disease progression. This is done with an echocardi...
This means effective treatment of aortic stenosis should eliminate the murmur and other symptoms. The three primary treatment options include monitoring, repair, and replacement.
1 Monitoring
When there are no other noticeable symptoms and blood flow through the heart is adequate, a doctor may recommend regular monitoring of your heart function.
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Lily Watson 13 minutes ago
They may also recommend monitoring the valve for disease progression. This is done with an echocardi...
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Alexander Wang Member
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They may also recommend monitoring the valve for disease progression. This is done with an echocardiogram.
2 Repair
Aortic valve repair may involve open heart surgery or a catheter procedure.
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Elijah Patel 22 minutes ago
In a catheter procedure, a doctor threads a catheter up through an artery to the aortic valve in the...
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Amelia Singh 45 minutes ago
This approach is called balloon valvuloplasty. It’s an option if there hasn’t yet been significa...
In a catheter procedure, a doctor threads a catheter up through an artery to the aortic valve in the heart. Once there, a deflated balloon at the catheter’s tip is inflated, widening the narrowed valve.
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Ethan Thomas 2 minutes ago
This approach is called balloon valvuloplasty. It’s an option if there hasn’t yet been significa...
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Liam Wilson 15 minutes ago
3 Replacement
When valve repair isn’t possible, a doctor may recommend the entire valve ...
When valve repair isn’t possible, a doctor may recommend the entire valve gets replaced. Open heart surgery can replace the diseased valve with a cow or pig valve, or with a mechanical valve or bioprosthetic valve.
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Amelia Singh 35 minutes ago
A nonsurgical option called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) can be done using a cathet...
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Brandon Kumar Member
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A nonsurgical option called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) can be done using a catheter to guide a new valve up to the heart, where it’s placed over the diseased valve. According to 2016 research, aortic valve replacement, rather than repair, is recommended when symptoms become noticeable.
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Takeaway
Aortic stenosis murmur is a high-pitched sound that can be heard when a healthcare...
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Joseph Kim 8 minutes ago
The murmur occurs because the aortic valve is narrowed and stiff, and cannot completely open to allo...
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Amelia Singh Moderator
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21 minutes ago
Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Takeaway
Aortic stenosis murmur is a high-pitched sound that can be heard when a healthcare professional listens to your heart with a stethoscope. The sound means there’s a disturbance in the usual steady flow of blood throughout the heart.
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Mason Rodriguez Member
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The murmur occurs because the aortic valve is narrowed and stiff, and cannot completely open to allow healthy blood flow out of the left ventricle and into the aorta. In many cases, the sound of aortic stenosis murmur is the first sign of aortic valve stenosis. In mild cases, aortic stenosis may have no significant symptoms other than a barely detectable murmur.
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James Smith 40 minutes ago
In severe cases, aortic stenosis often calls for a repair or replacement of the stenotic valve. Last...
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Lucas Martinez Moderator
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In severe cases, aortic stenosis often calls for a repair or replacement of the stenotic valve. Last medically reviewed on September 15, 2022
How we vetted this article
SourcesHistoryHealthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references.
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Scarlett Brown Member
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You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.Aortic stenosis overview. (2020). heart.org/en/health-topics/heart-valve-problems-and-disease/heart-valve-problems-and-causes/problem-aortic-valve-stenosisBailoor S, et al. (2021).
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Nathan Chen 5 minutes ago
Detecting aortic valve anomaly from induced murmurs: Insights from computational hemodynamic models....
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Harper Kim 69 minutes ago
(2016). Aortic stenosis: Diagnosis and treatment. aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2016/0301/p371.htmlMa...
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Sophie Martin Member
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Detecting aortic valve anomaly from induced murmurs: Insights from computational hemodynamic models. frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2021.734224/fullBykowski A, et al. (2021). Balloon valvuloplasty. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519532/Grimard BH, et al.
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(2016). Aortic stenosis: Diagnosis and treatment. aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2016/0301/p371.htmlMa...
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Natalie Lopez Member
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(2016). Aortic stenosis: Diagnosis and treatment. aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2016/0301/p371.htmlMalik MB, et al. (2021).
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Cardiac exam. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK553078/Thomas SL, et al. (2022)....
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Zoe Mueller Member
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Cardiac exam. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK553078/Thomas SL, et al. (2022).
Physiology, cardiovascular murmurs. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK525958/Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available. Current Version
Sep 15, 2022
By
James Roland
Edited By
Mike Hoskins
Medically Reviewed By
Uzochukwu Ibe, MD, MPH
Copy Edited By
Sara Giusti
Share this articleMedically reviewed by Uzochukwu Ibe, MD, MPH — By James Roland on September 15, 2022
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