The nurse working on the cardiac unit notes that the client has an S2

The nurse working on the cardiac unit notes that the client has an S2 murmur, which the nurse understands is caused by:

1. Pulmonic or aortic valve backflow or regurgitation
2. Mitral valve backflow or regurgitation
3. Tricuspid valve backflow or regurgitation
4. Poor coronary arterial circulation

ANSWER

ANS: 1
Closure of aortic and pulmonic valves represents S2, or the second heart sound. Some clients with valvular disease have backflow or regurgitation of blood through the incompetent valve, causing a murmur that you can hear on auscultation. During ventricular diastole the atrioventricular (mi-tral and tricuspid) valves open and blood flows from the higher-pressure atria into the relaxed ventricles. This represents S1, or the first heart sound. A murmur is caused by blood turbulence, not coronary artery disease