Which term describes an abnormal heart sound often associated with heart failure?

• A. Murmurs
• B. Rubs
• C. Click
• D. Gallops

Answer: (D)

A gallop describes an extra heart sound beyond the normal two beats, typically indicating underlying cardiac dysfunction. In the context of heart failure, the ventricular gallop (S3) is most characteristic: it appears early in diastole as the ventricle rapidly fills against a volume-overloaded, less compliant ventricle, signaling systolic dysfunction and fluid overload. Atrial gallops (S4) can occur with a stiff ventricle from long-standing hypertension or hypertrophy, but the classic link to heart failure is the ventricular gallop. Murmurs come from turbulent valve flow, rubs from pericardial inflammation, and clicks from valve prolapse, so the term that best fits an abnormal heart sound commonly seen with heart failure is gallops.