What type of murmur is typically associated with aortic valve stenosis?

Aortic valve stenosis is characterized by a crescendo-decrescendo systolic murmur due to the turbulent blood flow across the narrowed aortic valve during systole. This type of murmur begins softly, increases in intensity, and then diminishes, which is a typical sound pattern for stenotic lesions.

The murmur is best heard at the right second intercostal space and often radiates to the carotid arteries, reflecting the direction of blood flow. In aorta stenosis, the increased pressure gradient across the valve during systole leads to this characteristic sound pattern.

In contrast, diastolic murmurs are associated with conditions such as aortic regurgitation or mitral stenosis, which occur during the heart's filling phase, not during systole. High-pitched blowing systolic murmurs are more indicative of other cardiac conditions, such as mitral regurgitation. Finally, a continuous machine-like murmur is classically associated with patent ductus arteriosus, which has a different hemodynamic mechanism than that of aortic valve stenosis.