Long-term Mitral Valve Replacement in Young Children Influence of Somatic Growth

cations may help to demonstrate the presence of a unilateral intrinsic carotid bruit in these two situations. One other potential source of error is that as the arterial stenosis increases toward total occlusion, the intensity of the bruit decreases. It may become of lower intensity than the radiated murmur, or so faint that its signal-to-noise ratio is too low for spectral analysis. In our experience, this occurs very rarely. In summary, recording of murmurs and bruits over the base of the heart and along the course of the carotid arteries, combined with spectral analysis, usually permits differentiation of intrinsic carotid artery bruits from those due to radiated basal heart murmurs and allows quantitation of the extent of carotid stenosis even in the presence of radiated murmurs. References