Breath sounds

Question 1

Vesicular

Answer 1

Soft, low-pitched, breezy but faint sounds heard over most of the chest except near the trachea and mainstem bronchi and between the scapulae. Vesicular sounds are audible considerably longer on inspiration than expiration (about a 3:1 ratio)

Question 2

Bronchial

Answer 2

Loud, hollow, or tubular high-pitched sounds heard over the mainstem bronchi and trachea. Bronchial sounds are heard equally during inspiration and expiration; a slight pause in the sound occurs between inspiration and expiration

Question 3

Bronchovesicular

Answer 3

Softer than bronchial breath sounds; also heard equally during inspiration and expiration but without a pause in the sound between the cycles. The sounds are heard in the supraclavicular, suprascapular, and parasternal regions anteriorly and between the scapulae posteriorly.

Question 4

Crackles

Answer 4

Fine, discontinuous sounds (similar to the sound of bubbles popping or the sound of hairs being rubbed between your fingers next to your ear). Crackles, which can be fine or coarse, are heard primarily during inspiration as the result of secretions moving in the airways or in closed airways that are rapidly reopening. The former term for crackles was rales.

Question 5

Wheezes

Answer 5

Continuous high- or low-pitched sounds or sometimes musical tones heard during exhalation but occasionally audible during inspiration. Bronchospasm or secretions that narrow the lumen of the airways cause wheezes. The term previously used for wheezes was rhonchi.

Question 6

_______ that narrow the lumen of the airways cause wheezes. The term previously used for wheezes was rhonchi

Answer 6

Bronchospasm or secretions