Upon examination, however, medics discovered he had a heart murmur. Tests later confirmed he had a 'hole in his heart', known medically as ventricular septal defect (VSD).

The valves in your heart act as doors between the chambers, or rooms, of the heart. In the case of a murmur, a valve may be tight or leaky. When heart valves are narrow, this is called stenosis.

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — Detecting a heart murmur on your own can be tricky. A murmur is an extra heart sound that can be heard by a stethoscope.

“The murmur may disappear as quickly as it comes if it has a temporary cause,” says Michel Barsoum, M.B., Ch.B., a cardiologist and vascular medicine specialist at Mayo Clinic Health System.