Question

The nurse is conducting a physical examination of a child with a ventricular septal defect. Which of the following assessment findings is expected with this disorder?

Answer 1

Correct Answers:

Holosystolic harsh murmur along left sternal border

Rationale :

🖤 A ventricular septal defect (VSD) is an abnormal opening between the right and left ventricles that permits blood to flow between the ventricular chambers.

🖤 Because left ventricular pressure is normally higher than right ventricular pressure, blood generally moves through the defect from the left ventricle to the right ventricle during systole.

🖤 This left-to-right shunting creates significant turbulent blood flow across the ventricular septal opening.

🖤 The characteristic auscultatory finding is a harsh holosystolic murmur, typically heard best along the lower left sternal border.

🖤 The murmur extends throughout systole because the pressure gradient between the ventricles persists during ventricular contraction.

🖤 Smaller restrictive VSDs can actually produce particularly loud, harsh murmurs because blood passes rapidly through the small opening.

🖤 Large VSDs can produce increased pulmonary blood flow and manifestations of heart failure, including tachypnea, poor feeding, diaphoresis, and inadequate weight gain in infants.

🖤 A harsh holosystolic murmur along the left sternal border is therefore the most characteristic assessment finding among these choices.

Distractor Analysis :

Rationale for Incorrect Options to be Available Soon

QLexNursing

1 :
The nurse is conducting a physical examination of a child with a ventricular septal defect. Which of the following assessment findings is expected with this disorder?

QLexNursing

1 : The nurse is conducting a physical examination of a child with a ventricular septal defect. Which of the following assessment findings is expected with this disorder?

1 :
The nurse is conducting a physical examination of a child with a ventricular septal defect. Which of the following assessment findings is expected with this disorder?