Asymmetry of respiratory sounds and thoracic transmission

Abstract

Breath sounds heard with a stethoscope over homologous sites of both lungs in healthy subjects are presumed to have similar characteristics. Passively transmitted sounds introduced at the mouth, however, are known to lateralise, with right-over-left dominance in power at the anterior upper chest. Both spontaneous breath sounds and passively transmitted sounds are studied in four healthy adults, using contact sensors at homologous sites on the anterior upper and posterior lower chest. At standardised air flow, breath sound intensity shows a right-over-left dominance at the anterior upper chest, similar to passively transmitted sounds. At the posterior lung base, breath sounds are louder on the left, with a trend to similar lateralisation in transmitted sounds. It is likely that the observed asymmetries are related to the effects of cardiovascular structures and airway geometry on sound generation and transmission.