adventitious lung sounds


ad·ven·ti·tious lung sounds

(ad'vĕn-tish'ŭs lŭng sowndz) Breath sounds that are not normally heard or are heard in an inappropriate place that fall into one of two categories: (1) continuous: musical sounds with a persistent pitch (e.g., wheezes, rhonchi); (2) discontinuous: nonmusical, intermittent, crackling, or bubbling sounds (rales).

adventitious lung sounds

Crackles and wheezes superimposed on the normal breath sounds; indicative of respiratory disease. Most adventitious lung sounds can be divided into continuous (wheezing) and discontinuous (crackles) according to acoustical characteristics. See also: sound