wheeze
Sign in to saveAlso known as sibilant rhonchi, wheezing, wheezes, gasping, panting, puffing
A wheeze is a clinical symptom of a continuous, coarse, whistling sound produced in the respiratory airways during breathing. For wheezes to occur, part of the respiratory tree must be narrowed or obstructed (for example narrowing of the lower respiratory tract in an asthmatic attack), or airflow velocity within the respiratory tree must be heightened. Wheezing is commonly experienced by persons with a lung disease; the most common cause of recurrent wheezing is asthma, though it can also be a symptom of lung cancer, congestive heart failure, and certain types of heart diseases.
Key facts
- Medical condition (new).name
- Wheezing
- Medical condition (new).synonyms
- Sibilant rhonchi
- Medical condition (new).image
- Wheeze2O noise reduced.ogg
- Medical condition (new).caption
- The sound of wheezing as heard with a stethoscope
- Medical condition (new).field
- Pulmonology
- Medical condition (new).causes
- virus, bacteria, common cold, allergy, pneumonia, asthma, tuberculosis
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
Show 4 more facts
- Commons category
- Wheeze
- ICPC 2 ID
- R03
- NCI Thesaurus ID
- C78718
- exact match
- purl.obolibrary.org/obo/SYMP_0000604
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Article
9 sectionsContents
- Clinical symptom
- Wheeze
- Stridor
- Preschool wheeze
- To wheeze (slang)
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
A wheeze is a clinical symptom of a continuous, coarse, whistling sound produced in the respiratory airways during breathing. For wheezes to occur, part of the respiratory tree must be narrowed or obstructed (for example narrowing of the lower respiratory tract in an asthmatic attack), or airflow velocity within the respiratory tree must be heightened. Wheezing is commonly experienced by persons with a lung disease; the most common cause of recurrent wheezing is asthma, though it can also be a symptom of lung cancer, congestive heart failure, and certain types of heart diseases.
The differential diagnosis of wheezing is wide, and the reason for wheezing in a given patient is determined by considering the characteristics of the wheezes and the historical and clinical findings made by the examining physician.