Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Book

Wheezing(Archived)

Pujan H. Patel  1 , Vincent S. Mirabile  2 , Sandeep Sharma  3
In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
.
Affiliations
Free Books & Documents
Book

Wheezing(Archived)

Pujan H. Patel et al.
Free Books & Documents

Excerpt

Wheezing is the symptomatic manifestation of any disease process that causes airway obstruction. Rene Laennec's development of the stethoscope in 1816 has enabled a better appreciation of wheeze at the bedside, in comparison to the previously established practice of ear-to-chest auscultation. Wheeze is a musical, high-pitched, adventitious sound generated anywhere from the larynx to the distal bronchioles during either expiration or inspiration. Modern-day computerized waveform analysis has allowed us to characterize wheeze with more precision and given us its definition as a sinusoidal waveform, typically between 100 Hz and 5000 Hz with a dominant frequency of at least 400 Hz, lasting at least 80 milliseconds. Wheeze may be audible without the aid of a stereoscope when the sound is loud, but in most cases, wheezes are auscultated with a stethoscope.

The presence of wheezing does not always mean that the patient has asthma, and a proper history and physical exam are required to make the diagnosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Pujan Patel declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Vincent Mirabile declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Sandeep Sharma declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

    1. Gracia-Tabuenca J, Seppä VP, Jauhiainen M, Kotaniemi-Syrjänen A, Malmström K, Pelkonen A, Mäkelä M, Viik J, Malmberg LP. Tidal breathing flow volume profiles during sleep in wheezing infants measured by impedance pneumography. J Appl Physiol (1985) 2019 May 01;126(5):1409-1418. - PubMed
    1. Peçanha MB, Freitas RB, Moreira TR, Silva LS, Oliveira LL, Cardoso SA. Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its relationship with factors associated with recurrent wheezing. J Bras Pneumol. 2019 Feb 11;45(1):e20170431. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arrais M, Lulua O, Quifica F, Rosado-Pinto J, Gama JMR, Taborda-Barata L. Prevalence of asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema in 6-7-year-old schoolchildren from Luanda, Angola. Allergol Immunopathol (Madr) 2019 Nov-Dec;47(6):523-534. - PubMed
    1. Sabil A, Glos M, Günther A, Schöbel C, Veauthier C, Fietze I, Penzel T. Comparison of Apnea Detection Using Oronasal Thermal Airflow Sensor, Nasal Pressure Transducer, Respiratory Inductance Plethysmography and Tracheal Sound Sensor. J Clin Sleep Med. 2019 Feb 15;15(2):285-292. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zamani A, Khanjani N, Bagheri Hosseinabadi M, Ranjbar Homghavandi M, Miri R. The effect of chronic exposure to flour dust on pulmonary functions. Int J Occup Saf Ergon. 2021 Jun;27(2):497-503. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources