Pulmonology Breath Sounds

Egophony

Egophony is the finding that when the patient says E it sounds like A or “ah”, like the bleating of a goat. The mechanism is thought to be that the consolidated lung better transmits low frequency sounds and filters out some of the high frequency sounds, leading to this change in the sound. Egophony may also be heard over a thin band of compressed lung over a pleural effusion.

Pulmonology Tutorial

Patient 2

This is an older woman who developed pulmonary toxicity from a biologic agent used to treat underlying lung cancer. She developed a large consolidation involving the left lung, giving rise to egophony when the patient is asked to say the letter “E”. Notice the asymmetry between the right and left lungs.

This patient also has inspiratory rales.

Egophony

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