| Bruit | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Vascular murmur |
| Pronunciation | |
| Specialty | Cardiology |
Bruit, also calledvascular murmur,[3] is the abnormal sound generated byturbulent flow of blood in an artery due to either an area of partial obstruction or a localized high rate of blood flow through an unobstructed artery.[4]
The bruit may be heard ("auscultated") by securely placing the head of astethoscope to the skin over the turbulent flow, and listening. Most bruits occur only insystole, so the bruit is intermittent and its frequency dependent on the heart rate. Anything increasing the blood flow velocity such asfever,anemia,hyperthyroidism, orphysical exertion, can increase the amplitude of the bruit.
It is naturalized from the French word for "noise", although another notes that/ˈbruːi/ and/bruːˈiː/ are also common,[5] and others give only/ˈbruːi/ for the cardiac sense.[6][7]
