Cardiology Murmurs

Austin Flint Murmur

Aortic Regurgitation any be associated with a low-pitched, “blubbering”, mid-to-late diastolic murmur heard over the apex, known as the Austin Flint murmur. The mechanism is thought to be distortion and early closure of the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve caused by the regurgitant aortic jet, resulting in functional mitral stenosis.

Patient 1

This is a young man with intravenous drug use who developed infective endocarditis of the aortic valve with flail leaflet and severe aortic valve endocarditis. Note the “wavering” quality of the diastolic murmur over the apex.

This patient also has a classic decrescendo diastolic murmur over Erb’s point, bounding peripheral pulses, and Cheyne-Stokes respirations.

Austin Flint Murmur

Annotated