Breath sounds.

Breath soundsTo most physicians "breath sounds" mean the respiratory noise heard through the stethoscope on the chest wall.The sound of breathing, heard with the ear close to the patient's mouth is seldom observed, because its clinical significance is not generally understood.Noisy breathing as a sign of disease was recognised by Laennec (1819), who carefully distinguished it from wheezing and other adventitious sounds.The breathing of a healthy person at rest is barely audible at the mouth, while in chronic bronchitis or asthma it can often be heard at a distance of several feet.This noise is intensified by bronchoconstriction and silenced by inhalation of a bronchodilator aerosol.Comparative sound