Whispered pectoriloquy refers to an increased loudness of whispering noted during auscultation with a stethoscope on the lung fields on a patient's back.[1]
Usually sounds of this volume would not be heard when whispered. It is a test performed during a medical physical examination to evaluate for the presence of lung consolidation, which could be caused by cancer or pneumonia.
Contents |
The test is similar to the test for bronchophony and egophony. In bronchophony, the physician often asks the patient to say “ninety-nine” or "baseball" while listening over the lung fields: the sound will be louder in areas where consolidation is present.
The choice of "ninety-nine" is the unfortunate result of a literal translation. The test was originally described by a German physician who used the phrase "neun und neunzig" (pronounced [ˈnɔʏnʊntˈnɔʏntsɪç]), which he chose because it contains diphthongs, calculated to cause maximum vibration of the chest. The translation, "ninety-nine", has fewer vowels and is less effective in evoking the phenomenon.[2] Better phrases in English include "toy boat”, "Scooby Doo", and “blue balloons".
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||