Respiratory sounds - wikipedia Respiratory sounds This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( May 2015 ) Respiratory sounds 1 ) area for normal tracheal sound, 2 ) area for ascultation of upper lung fields, 3 ) area for normal bronchial sound. Blue marks ascultation area and red line marks heart. Classification and external resources ICD - 10 R06 ICD - 9 - CM 786.7 MedlinePlus 007535 MeSH D012135 ( edit on Wikidata ) Respiratory sounds, breath sounds, or lung sounds refer to the specific sounds generated by the movement of air through the respiratory system. These may be easily audible or identified through auscultation of the respiratory system through the lung fields with a stethoscope as well as from the spectral chacteristics of lung sounds. These include normal breath sounds and adventitious or `` added '' sounds such as rales, wheezes, pleural friction rubs, stertor and stridor. Description and classification of the sounds usually involve auscultation of the inspiratory and expiratory phases of the breath cycle, noting both the pitch ( typically described as low, medium or high ) and intensity ( soft, medium, loud or very loud ) of the sounds heard. Contents 1 Abnormal breath sounds 1.1 Continued 2 Other tests of auscultation 3 References 4 External links Abnormal breath sounds Common types of abnormal breath sounds include the following : Name Continuous / discontinuous Frequency / Pitch Inspiratory / expiratory Quality Associated conditions Example Wheeze or rhonchi continuous high ( wheeze ) or lower ( rhonchi ) expiratory or inspiratory whistling / sibilant, musical Caused by narrowing of airways, such as in asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, foreign body. Wheezing The sound of wheezing as heard with a stethoscope. Problems playing this file ? See media help. Stridor continuous high either, mostly inspiratory whistling / sibilant, musical epiglottitis, foreign body, laryngeal oedema, croup Stridor Inspiratory and expiratory stridor in a 13 - month child with croup. Problems playing this file ? See media help. Inspiratory gasp continuous high inspiratory whoop pertussis ( whooping cough ) see New England Journal of Medicine, Classic Whooping Cough sound file, Supplement to the N Engl J Med 2004 ; 350 : 2023 - 2026 Crackles ( aka crepitations or rales ) discontinuous high ( fine ) or low ( coarse ), nonmusical inspiratory cracking / clicking / rattling pneumonia, pulmonary edema, tuberculosis, bronchitis Crackles Crackles heard in the lungs of a person with pneumonia using a stethoscope. Problems playing this file ? See media help. Pleural friction rub discontinuous low inspiratory and expiratory nonmusical, many repeated rhythmic sounds inflammation of lung linings, lung tumors not available Hamman 's sign ( or Mediastinal crunch ) discontinuous neither ( heartbeat ) crunching, rasping pneumomediastinum, pneumopericardium not available Continued Rales : Small clicking, bubbling, or rattling sounds in the lungs. They are heard when a person breathes in ( inhales ). They are believed to occur when air opens closed air spaces. Rales can be further described as moist, dry, fine, and coarse. Rhonchi : Sounds that resemble snoring. They occur when air is blocked or air flow becomes rough through the medium - sized airways, most often with secretions. Citation needed Stridor : Wheeze - like sound heard when a person breathes. Usually it is due to a blockage of airflow in the windpipe ( trachea ) or in the back of the throat. Wheezing : High - pitched sounds produced by narrowed airways. They are most often heard when a person breathes out ( exhales ). Wheezing and other abnormal sounds can sometimes be heard without a stethoscope. Other tests of auscultation Pectoriloquy, egophony and bronchophony are tests of auscultation. For example, in whispered pectoriloquy the person being examined whispers - typically a two syllable number as the clinician listens over the lung fields. The whisper is not normally heard over the lungs, but if heard may be indicative of pulmonary consolidation in that area. This is because sound travels differently through denser ( fluid or solid ) media than the air that should normally be predominant in lung tissue. In egophony, the person being examined continually speaks the English long - sound `` E ''. The lungs are usually air filled, but if there is an abnormal solid component due to infection, fluid, or tumor, the higher frequencies of the `` E '' sound will be diminished. This changes the sound produced, from a long `` E '' sound to a long `` A '' sound. References Jump up ^ Respiratory + sounds at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings ( MeSH ) Jump up ^ Sengupta, Nandini ; Sahidullah, Md ; Saha, Goutam ( August 2016 ). `` Lung sound classification using cepstral - based statistical features ''. Computers in Biology and Medicine. 75 ( 1 ) : 118 -- 129. doi : 10.1016 / j. compbiomed. 2016.05. 013. Jump up ^ Bohadana, Abraham ( February 20, 2014 ). `` Fundamentals of Lung Auscultation ''. New England Journal of Medicine. 370 : 744. doi : 10.1056 / NEJMra1302901. PMID 24552321. Retrieved February 28, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Breath sounds : Medline Plus ''. NIH. Retrieved 5 May 2015. External links Audio Breath Sounds - Multiple case studies with audio files of lung sounds. R.A.L.E. Repository - sound files of breath sounds MEDiscuss - Respiratory auscultation with audio examples Wilkins R, Dexter J, Smith J ( 1984 ). `` Survey of adventitious lung sound terminology in case reports ''. Chest. 85 ( 4 ) : 523 -- 5. doi : 10.1378 / chest. 85.4. 523. PMID 6705583. Lehrer, Steven. Understanding Lung Sounds. Elsevier 2002. Lung Sounds - 20 recordings and waveforms Symptoms and signs relating to the respiratory system ( R04 -- R07, 786 ) Medical examination and history taking Auscultation Stethoscope Respiratory sounds Stridor Wheeze Crackles Rhonchi Stertor Squawk Pleural friction rub Fremitus Bronchophony Terminal secretions Elicited findings Percussion Pectoriloquy Whispered pectoriloquy Egophony Breathing Rate Apnea Prematurity Dyspnea Hyperventilation Hypoventilation Hyperpnea Tachypnea Hypopnea Bradypnea Pattern Agonal respiration Biot 's respiration Cheyne -- Stokes respiration Kussmaul breathing Ataxic respiration Other Respiratory distress Respiratory arrest Orthopnea / Platypnea Trepopnea Aerophagia Asphyxia Breath holding Mouth breathing Snoring Other Chest pain In children Precordial catch syndrome Pleurisy Nail clubbing Cyanosis Cough Sputum Hemoptysis Epistaxis Silhouette sign Post-nasal drip Hiccup COPD Hoover 's sign asthma Curschmann 's spirals Charcot -- Leyden crystals chronic bronchitis Reid index sarcoidosis Kveim test pulmonary embolism Hampton hump Westermark sign pulmonary edema Kerley lines Hamman 's sign Golden S sign Medical examination and history taking Medical history Chief complaint History of the present illness Systems review Nursing assessment Allergies Medications Past medical history Family history Social history Psychiatric history Progress notes Mnemonics SAMPLE OPQRST SOAP COASTMAP Physical examination General / IPPA Inspection Auscultation Palpation Percussion Vital signs Temperature Heart rate Blood pressure Respiratory rate HEENT Oral mucosa TM Eyes ( Ophthalmoscopy, Swinging - flashlight test ) Hearing ( Weber, Rinne ) Respiratory Respiratory sounds Cyanosis Clubbing Cardiovascular Precordial examination Peripheral vascular examination Heart sounds Other Jugular venous pressure Abdominojugular test Carotid bruit Ankle - brachial pressure index Abdominal Digestive Liver span Rectal Murphy 's sign Bowel sounds Urinary Murphy 's punch sign Extremities / Joint Back ( Straight leg raise ) Knee ( McMurray test ) Hip Wrist ( Tinel sign, Phalen maneuver ) Shoulder ( Adson 's sign ) GALS screen Neurological Mental state Mini -- mental state examination Cranial nerve examination Upper limb neurological examination Neonatal Apgar score Ballard Maturational Assessment Gynecological Well - woman examination Vaginal examination Breast examination Cervical motion tenderness Assessment and plan Medical diagnosis Differential diagnosis Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Respiratory_sounds&oldid=866247993 '' Categories : Symptoms and signs : Respiratory system Pulmonology Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from May 2015 All articles needing additional references Infobox medical condition Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia فارسی Italiano پښتو Polski Simple English Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 29 October 2018, at 05 : 50 ( UTC ). 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Question: the whistling sound produced due to the movement of air through narrow airways is called
Answer: Respiratory sounds, breath sounds, or lung sounds