Mechanism of posturally induced crackles as predictor of latent congestive heart failure

Auscultation of the respiratory system

Auscultation of the lung is an important part of the respiratory examination and is helpful in diagnosing various respiratory disorders. Auscultation assesses airflow through the trachea-bronchial tree. It is important to distinguish normal respiratory sounds from abnormal ones for example crackles, wheezes, and pleural rub in order to make correct diagnosis. It is necessary to understand the underlying pathophysiology of various lung sounds generation for better understanding of disease processes. Bedside teaching should be strengthened in order to avoid erosion in this age old procedure in the era of technological explosion.

Efeitos da posição sentada na força de músculos respiratórios durante o desmame de pacientes sob ventilação mecânica prolongada no pós-operatório de cirurgia cardiovascular

O objetivo do estudo foi investigar os efeitos da posição sentada, nos parâmetros ventilatórios e hemodinâmicos, em pacientes com suporte ventilatório mecânico prolongado, estáveis hemodinamicamente. Participaram do estudo 40 pacientes que foram randomizados em grupo controle (n=17) e grupo intervenção (n=23). Foram mensurados parâmetros hemodinâmicos, gasometria arterial, força muscular respiratória e ventilometria, realizados em dois momentos: primeira e segunda avaliação, com intervalo de 30 minutos entre as medidas. No grupo controle, as duas avaliações foram realizadas no leito, com a cabeceira elevada a 30°. No grupo intervenção, a primeira avaliação foi realizada no leito (30°) e a segunda, 30 minutos após transferência para a poltrona, na posição sentada (90°). A idade média da amostra foi de 64,7±11,2 anos. O resultado do estudo demonstrou que não houve diferenças em relação às variáveis, hemodinâmicas, gasométricas, capacidade vital forçada, volume minuto e volume de ar corrente. Entretanto, ocorreu aumento significativo da pressão inspiratória máxima (PImáx) no grupo intervenção (p<0.01). Concluímos que pacientes em pós-operatório de cirurgia cardiovascular em ventilação mecânica podem se beneficiar da posição sentada durante o desmame do suporte ventilatório, observado pela melhora da força muscular inspiratória (PImáx). Além disso, não foram observadas alterações hemodinâmicas com a troca de postura, sendo considerado um procedimento seguro.

Effect of body position on lung sounds in healthy young men

BACKGROUND

The effect of body position on the generation of abnormal respiratory sounds (eg, snoring and stridor) is well recognized. Postural effects on normal lung sounds have been studied in less detail but need to be clarified if respiratory acoustic measurements are to be used effectively in clinical practice.

METHODS

Lung sounds and airflow were recorded in six healthy male subjects. Two acoustic sensors were placed over corresponding sites of the right and left chest, first anteriorly and then on the back. Subjects were studied in sitting, supine, prone, and lateral decubitus positions. Lung sound intensity (LSI) was determined at flows of 0.4 to 0.6 L/s and 0.8 to 1.2 L/s within frequency bands of 150 to 300 Hz and 300 to 600 Hz.

RESULTS

LSI was greater over the dependent lungs in the lateral decubitus positions. In the sitting position, LSI was greater on the left compared with the right posterior lung at the same airflow within the same frequency bands. Compared with sitting, neither the supine nor prone positions caused a significant change in LSI.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study confirms previously reported asymmetries of normal lung sounds. The insignificant change of flow-specific LSI between the upright and horizontal positions in healthy subjects is encouraging for the clinical use of respiratory acoustic measurements. Further studies should address postural effects on lung sounds in patients with acute lung injury and other lung pathologies.

Elimination of vesicular sounds from pulmonary crackle waveforms

Pulmonary crackles and their parameters are very useful in the diagnosis of pulmonary disorders. A new automatic method has been proposed for the elimination of background vesicular sound from crackle signal with a view to introduce minimum distortion to crackle parameters. A region of interest is designated and a distortion metric based on the correlation between raw and filtered waveforms in that region is defined. Filter cut-off frequency is estimated based on the distortion metric. To reduce computational cost, a regression analysis is also realized which predicts a new fitted cut-off frequency from the estimated cut-off frequency. As a comparison basis, wavelet filtering is also applied on the same data. The algorithm is validated on simulated crackles superimposed on recorded vesicular sound with results indicating that filtering is achieved with minimal distortion of crackle parameters. The algorithm is also applied on real crackles from subjects with various respiratory disorders. The results show the extent of the effect of vesicular sound on crackle parameters, emphasizing the significance of proper filtering in crackle studies.

Auditory detection of simulated crackles in breath sounds

BACKGROUND

Computerized analysis of breath sounds has relied on human auditory perception as the reference standard for identifying crackles. In this study, we tested the human audibility of crackles by superimposing artificial clicks on recorded breath sounds and having physicians listen to the recordings to see if they could identify the crackles.

OBJECTIVES

To establish the audibility of simulated crackles introduced in breath sounds of different intensity, to study the effects of crackle characteristics on their audibility, and to investigate crackle detection within and between observers.

METHODS

Fine, medium, and coarse crackles with large and small amplitude were synthesized by computer software. Waveform parameters were based on published characteristics of lung sound crackles. The amplitude for small crackles was defined as just above the threshold of audibility for simulated crackles inserted in sound recorded during breath hold. Simulated crackles were then superimposed on breath sounds recorded at 0 L/s (breath hold), 1 L/s, and 2 L/s airflow. Five physicians listened during playback on two separate occasions to determine if crackles could be heard and to calculate the interobserver and intraobserver variations.

RESULTS

Failed detection of crackles was significantly more common in the following conditions: (1) background breath sounds had higher intensity (2 L/s airflow) compared to lower intensity (1 L/s), (2) crackle type was coarse or medium compared to fine, and (3) crackle amplitude was small compared to large. Both intraobserver and interobserver agreements were high (kappa > 0.6).

RELEVANCE

The validation of automated techniques for crackle detection in lung sound analysis should not rely on auscultation as the only reference. Detection of crackles is facilitated when patients take slow, deep breaths that generate little breath sounds.