Q: My daughter is 9 years old. Recently we had taken her to a paediatrician due to cough & cold. The doctor detected a murmur in her heart (Systolic murmur, Grade-II) and advised an Echo. The echo revealed that every parameter of the heart was normal except a 15mm Hg pressure gradient across the pulmonic valve. The cusp shape, separation and annular flow area of the pulmonic valve were found to be normal, as indicated in the Echo report. My daughter has no apparent symptoms or any discomfort, is active, studies well and plays hard. She is 32 Kgs. What is the significance of the finding and what precautions, if any, does it entail for my daughter?

A:With this echo report no treatment is necessary. Also the long term outlook is excellent. In all probability this will never require treatment in future. No restriction in any form of activity. Repeat echo sometime after 5 years. It is difficult to attribute any symptoms to this heart lesion and one should refrain from doing so. It is likely that whenever the child suffers from any cough and cold it becomes reflexive to attribute the symptom to the heart.