
Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Right ventricular outflow tract obstruction physical examination
Introduction
Overview
Overview
Pulmonic stenosis is an acynotic condition which may present with cyanosis when associated with interatrial right-to-left shunt. Patients are normally healthy but on auscultation an ejection systolic murmur of grade II-VI to V-VI is best heard at the left upper sternal border.
Physical Examination
Physical Examination
Appearance of the patient
- Patients appear healthy
- A small percentage of patients have Noonan’s syndrome:
- Small stature, retarded, triangle-faced shape, webbed neck, ptosis, hypertelorism, low set ears, and pectus.
- Noonan syndrome is familial.
Neck
- If the lesion is severe (>75 mm Hg pressure gradient) then there is a giant “a wave” secondary to the reduced compliance of the right ventricule, otherwise JVP is normal.
Heart
Palpation
- Right ventricular heave or lift is present in moderate to severe pulmonary stenosis.
- A precordial thrill is present in case of severe obstruction at the left suprasternal notch and the left upper sternal border.
Auscultation
Heart Sounds
- In mild forms, the pulmonic component of the second heart sound is loud.
- In severe forms, the pulmonic component of the second heart sound may be missing.
- Fourth heart sound (S4) is heard at the left lower sternal border in presence of severe stenosis.
- Ejection click is often present and best heard at the left sternal border. Loudness of the click decreases with inspiration.
Murmurs
- There is a loud systolic ejection murmur loudest in the second left intercostal space which peaks in late systole.
- It radiates into axillae and back.
- Severe stenosis is clinical assessed by:
- long duration and late peaking of the ejection systolic murmur,
- short interval between the first heart sound (S1) and ejection click,
- increase in width between aortic (A2) and pulmonic component (P2) of the second heart sound (S2), and
- soft pulmonary component of second heart sound (P2)
- Other murmurs:
- Severe pulmonary stenosis can lead to tricuspid regurgitation which results in an holosystolic murmur best heard at the left lower sternal border.
- An associated pulmonary regurgitation will result in an early diastolic decrescendo murmur.
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2]
