Venous hum

Venous hum is a benign medical condition where 20% of the blood flow travels to the brain and back to the heart. Due to the large amount of blood it can move quite fast causing the vein walls to vibrate which can create a humming noise to be heard by the patient.

This can also be confused with a heart murmur but is in fact not. It is heard throughout the cardiac cycle. The difference is easily detected by placing a finger on the jugular vein when listening to the heart. The murmur disappears when the patient is lying supine. It is also known by the names "nun's murmur" and "bruit de diable" (the Devil's noise).

One fifth of the output of the heart flows to the brain. This prodigious amount of blood must return to the heart; it flows back in large part through the jugular veins in the neck. As these large quantities of blood flow down through the jugular veins at high velocity, they can induce vibrations in the walls of the veins. A peculiar humming sound is heard in the upper chest near the collarbone. This is sometimes confused with a heart murmur; it is not a true heart murmur. The proof of its nature is simple: when the child turns his or her head, or if the doctor presses on the jugular vein on the same side above the source of the sound, the "murmur" disappears. This is a venous hum, and is entirely harmless.

See also

• Venus Hum, a band which derives its name from this phenomenon.

References

External links

• Page about Venous hum

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