Roger’s murmur

Description

Roger’s murmur describes a loud holosystolic murmur of a ventricular septal defect.

The murmur is best demonstrated at the left upper sternal border, accompanied by a harsh thrill, and compared to the sound of a ‘rushing waterfall’. The smaller the ventricular septal defect, the greater the turbulence of flow and the louder the murmur. 

History of Roger’s murmur

1879 – Henri-Louis Roger (1809-1891) provided the first clinicopathological overview, through the correlation of his autopsy findings of interventricular defects with the murmurs previously documented in patients’ records. His description of the murmur:

… a murmur loud and long; it is single, begins at systole and is prolonged so as to hide the natural tic-tac; it has its maximum… in the upper third of the precordial region; it is median, like the septum itself

Roger 1879

The interventricular defects described by Roger:

A developmental defect of the heart occurs from which cyanosis does not ensue in spite of the fact that a communication exists between the cavities of the two ventricles. This congenital defect comprises a defect in the interventricular septum

…in the upper portion of the interventricular septum beneath the mitral valve is an orifice which establishes a communication between the two ventricles; one of the most frequent (defects) which I have encountered… is the communication between the two ventricles

Roger 1879

Associated Persons

• Henri-Louis Roger (1809-1891)

Alternative names

• Bruit de Roger
• Roger’s murmur of ventricular septal defect
• Murmur of Roger’s disease
• Murmur of maladie de Roger

References

Historical articles

• Roger H. Recherches cliniques sur la communication congenitale des deux coeurs, par inocclusion du septum interventriculaire. Bulletin de l’Academie de Médecine, 1879; 2(VII): 1074-94, 1189-1191.

Eponymous term articles

• Paraskevas G. What is the history of the first descriptions of the ventricular septal defects? Int J Cardiol. 2016 Oct 1;220:616-7.
• Ma I, Tierney LM. Name that murmur–eponyms for the astute auscultician. N Engl J Med. 2010; 363(22): 2164-8.
• Robbins A, Zhang G, Cadogan M. Name that murmur. LITFL 2022
• Cadogan M. Roger’s murmur. Eponym A Day. Instagram

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