(C) Diminished breath sounds. The diagnosis in the second case is emphysema. There is considerable overlap between emphysema, asthma, and chronic bronchitis. In fact, the term chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can denote either a combination of all 3 diseases or 1 disease alone. In cases of emphysema, the predominant auscultatory finding is diminished vesicular breath sounds. If asthma were the diagnosis, then wheezing would be the most likely auscultatory finding; if chronic bronchitis were the diagnosis, then rhonchi would be the most likely auscultatory finding.

Download Adobe Acrobat Reader