Austin Flint murmur

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

In cardiology, an Austin Flint murmur is a low-pitched, mid to late diastolic rumbling murmur which is best heard at the cardiac apex. It is associated with severe aortic regurgitation.

Echocardiography, conventional and colour flow doppler ultrasound, and cine nuclear magnetic resonance (cine NMR) imaging suggest the murmur is the result of aortic regurgitant flow impingement on the inner surface of the heart, i.e. the endocardium.^[1]

Classically, it is described as being the result of mitral valve leaftlet displacement and turbulent mixing of antegrade mitral flow and retrograde aortic flow:^[2]

• The blood jets from the aortic regurgitation strike the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve, which often results in premature closure of the mitral leaflets.

• Turbulance of the two columns of blood, one from left atrium to left ventricle and another from aorta to left ventricle.

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• Absence of both a loud S1 and an opening snap of the mitral valve helps in differentiating it from mitral stenosis.

Aortic valve replacement may be necessary to correct the abnormality if symptomatic.

It is named after the 19th century American physician Austin Flint (1812–1886).

• Heart murmur
• Aortic insufficiency

• Biography of Austin Flint

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