The Clinical Value of Phonocardiography

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Heart sound recording has been made more accurate in recent yrs. by the development of electronic equipment which has removed most of the artefacts produced within the instruments. Such records should be made with open bell and diaphragm stethoscope chest pieces, and with linear, stethoscopic, and logarithmic microphones. The development of cardiac surgery has increased the practical value of phonocardiograms. However, phonocardiography is a method of accessory value in only a few cardiac conditions. It is technically a difficult procedure. It has been of greatest help in the timing of heart sounds having abnormal components or unusual accentuation of normal components[long dash]split sounds, auricular sounds, and gallop rhythms. In only rare instances are the data provided by phonocardiography of critical importance in diagnosis. Such instances include the recording of murmurs which are inaudible due to masking and fatigue effects on the ear from previous loud sounds; the demonstration of true presystolic murmurs of mitral stenosis; and the definition of characteristic patterns of pulmonic and aortic stenosis. The discriminating use of phonocardiography will undoubtedly be increasingly helpful in the diagnosis of valvular and congenital heart disease.