logo Einloggen

Corpus: Cardiac auscultation

Synonym: heart auscultation

1. Definition

Cardiac auscultation is a part of the physical examination. It is used to assess normal heart sounds and detect abnormal heart murmurs, which may indicate conditions such as heart valve disease.

2. Procedure

Cardiac auscultation is performed using a stethoscope. Typically, only two of the four heart sounds can be heard in a normal examination.

The examination can be conducted with the patient standing, sitting, or lying down. However, for better sound clarity, it is recommended to perform the auscultation while the patient is seated.

Auscultation is performed at five standard anatomical points on the chest, where heart valve sounds are best heard:

The examination usually starts at the base of the heart (aortic and pulmonary valves) and proceeds downward toward the apex. Alternatively, auscultation can be performed in pairs—first both upper points (aortic and pulmonary), then both lower points (tricuspid and mitral), beginning on the right side and then moving to the left.

If breath sounds interfere with auscultation, the patient can be asked to briefly hold their breath. It is also helpful to simultaneously palpate the radial artery pulse to detect a possible pulse deficit (a difference between the heart rate and pulse rate), which may occur in conditions such as arrhythmia, heart failure, or vascular narrowing. Additionally, this allows for the accurate distinction between systolic and diastolic murmurs.

3. Mnemonic

A well-known mnemonic for the auscultation points of the heart is:

  • "APE To Man"

The bold letters of the words stand for the respective heart valves and points.

  • Aortic valve
  • Pulmonary valve
  • Erb's point
  • Tricupsid valve
  • Mitral valve
Stichworte: Corpus, Examination

Empfehlung

Shop News Jobs CME Flexa Piccer
NEU: Log dich ein, um Artikel in persönlichen Favoriten-Listen zu speichern.
A
A
A

Teilen Was zeigt hierher Versionsgeschichte Artikel erstellen Discord
Dr. rer. nat. Fabienne Reh
DocCheck Team
Diese Funktion steht nur eingeloggten Abonnenten zur Verfügung
Letzter Edit:
11.02.2025, 16:01
24 Aufrufe
Nutzung: BY-NC-SA
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...