Austin Flint: on cardiac murmurs.

Austin Flint first ausculted the murmur associated with his name in 1859. Suspecting it to be of mitral origin, he identified it as occurring in aortic insufficiency three years later. Recent echocardiographic study has indicated that this murmur is produced by an aortic insufficiency jet colliding with the anterior mitral valve leaflet. Flint was among the first to recognize the importance of normal cardiac and respiratory sounds. He advocated routine auscultation on all patients, and had great influence in popularizing auscultation in American medicine.