Sle patient. pulm dr said she could hear a murmur "all the way up" only on left side. getting echo. what does this mean and what will echo show? never knew i had this. have pleuritis now. chest pain and sob with exertion x 4 yrs. hx pericarditis.

Heart Murmur: A heart murmur is, generally speaking, blood flow through the heart that can be heard with a physician's stethoscope. Based on the information you provide, I can't tell you what your echo will show, but most patient have murmurs that generally aren't considered dangerous to their overall well being.

Murmur.: A murmur may suggest that one or more of your heart valves may not be functioning properly. Now some murmurs are “functional”, and therefore normal, but the 2D Echo will help to clear up whether or not there’s any valve abnormality of concern.

Murmur: A heart murmur may be insignificant and just a flow sound or it could be a manifestation of heart valve damage. Usually the loud murmurs and the ones that radiate prominently are significant and in your case,on the left side radiating toward the neck, the aortic valve may be scarred. An echocardiogram will be very revealing in demonstrating scarring and the degree of scarring of heart valves.