Absent or decreased sounds can mean: Air or fluid in or around the lungs (such as pneumonia, heart failure, and pleural effusion) Increased thickness of the chest wall. Over-inflation of a part of the lungs (emphysema can cause this)
Vesicular sounds are soft, blowing, or rustling sounds normally heard throughout most of the lung fields. Vesicular sounds are normally heard throughout inspiration, continue without pause through expiration, and then fade away about one third of the way through expiration.
Some patients report noisy, difficult breathing (wheezy dyspnea), whereas others describe a whistling type of breathing or rattling secretions in the throat. The majority of asthmatic patients who report active wheezing generally have this finding documented by the examining physician.
Diagnosing Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Listening to the chest with a stethoscope (auscultation) reveals abnormal breath sounds, such as crackles, which may be signs of fluid in the lungs. Often, blood pressure is low. Cyanosis (blue skin, lips, and nails caused by lack of oxygen to the tissues) is often seen.
Your doctor will listen to your lungs with a stethoscope. If you have pneumonia, your lungs may make crackling, bubbling, and rumbling sounds when you inhale.
The condition also causes some distinct sounds ranging from wheezing to cracking when you breathe, which isn't surprising since COPD is an umbrella term for a group of lung diseases (including chronic bronchitis and emphysema) that obstruct the lung's airways and make breathing difficult.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to a group of lung conditions that cause breathing-related difficulties. It can give rise to several different lung sounds. COPD can cause a variety of different lung sounds, including rhonchi, wheezing, and crackling.
coarse crackles
A common finding in exacerbations. A discontinuous sound referring to mucus or sputum in airways. Indicative of airway inflammation and mucus over-secretion. Auscultation sounds: early inspiratory crackles.
Rhonchi. These low-pitched wheezing sounds sound like snoring and usually happen when you breathe out. They can be a sign that your bronchial tubes (the tubes that connect your trachea to your lungs) are thickening because of mucus. Rhonchi sounds can be a sign of bronchitis or COPD.
Auscultation with stethoscope has been an essential tool for diagnosing the patients with respiratory disease. Although auscultation is non-invasive, rapid, and inexpensive, it has intrinsic limitations such as inter-listener variability and subjectivity, and the examination must be performed face-to-face.
The Symptoms of Popcorn Lung
Short of breath. Crackles (“sounds like Velcro or Rice Crispies”) detected with a stethoscope. Cough that doesn't go away. Oxygen levels that nosedive when walking.
Crackles. These may be either coarse or fine. They are discontinuous, interrupted explosive sounds. Coarse crackles or crepitations are associated with bronchiectasis or resolving pneumonia, whereas fine crackles can be heard with either pulmonary oedema or interstitial fibrosis.
Vesicular breath sounds are soft and low pitched lung sounds. They consist of a quiet, wispy inspiratory phase followed by a short, almost silent, expiratory phase. They are heard over most of the lung fields. They are more prominent in children and thin adults.
Heart Failure
Crackles will be detected higher in the chest with worsening severity of HF. Crackles may be absent in patients with chronic HF even in the setting of elevated pulmonary capillary wedge pressure. Also, crackles may be difficult to hear in patients with emphysema or other coexisting pulmonary diseases.
Stage 1 Symptoms are mild and often unnoticed, except during times of exertion. These include mild shortness of breath and a nagging dry cough. Stage 2 Shortness of breath worsens, accompanied by a persistent cough and phlegm production. Flare-ups can cause changes in phlegm color.
Your doctor will examine you and use a stethoscope to listen for wheezing or other abnormal chest sounds. Lung function and imaging tests will tell your doctor whether you have COPD and how serious it is.
Signs and symptoms of emphysema take years to develop, but once they start, they generally include shortness of breath, coughing with mucus, wheezing and chest tightness.
Breathing may be labored. A classic sign of bacterial pneumonia is a cough that produces thick, blood-tinged or yellowish-greenish sputum with pus. Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs.
For example, crackles that occur late in the inspiratory phase (when a person inhales) may indicate heart failure or pneumonia. A doctor may also ask for: chest X-rays. a sputum sample to test for infection.