Question

1 You are auscultating your patient's chest, and you notice that the S2 sound seems to be "split," meaning that

you can hear two separate sounds. You can also hear a noticeable murmur during S2 Is the abnormality in the
atrioventricular valves or the semilunar valves? How do you know? Explain.

Answer 1

The abnormality is in the semilunar valves. A split S2 sound and the presence of a murmur during S2 suggest abnormality in the semilunar valves.

Step-by-step explanation:

In a normal, healthy heart, the second heart sound S2 is the sound of the closing of the semilunar valves during ventricular diastole. If you hear a split S2 sound, it indicates an abnormality in the semilunar valves. A split S2 sound occurs when the closure of the aortic and pulmonary valves is not coordinated, resulting in two separate sounds instead of one.

Additionally, the presence of a noticeable murmur during S2 suggests further abnormality in the semilunar valves. A murmur is an unusual sound caused by the turbulent flow of blood. The murmur may indicate a problem with the semilunar valves, such as stenosis (narrowing) or regurgitation (leakage of blood backward).