René Laennec adopted the existing word râles (which has been translated as 'rattles', 'groans' and otherwise) to describe the added breath sounds that are now referred to as 'crackles'. Pulmonary edema secondary to left-sided congestive heart failure can also cause crackles.

Bibasal crackles, also called bilateral basal crackles, are crackles heard at the bases of both the left and right lungs.Ĭrackles are caused by the 'popping open' of small airways and alveoli collapsed by fluid, exudate, or lack of aeration during expiration.Ĭrackles can be heard in patients with pneumonia, atelectasis, pulmonary fibrosis, acute bronchitis, bronchiectasis, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), interstitial lung disease or post thoracotomy or metastasis ablation. Basal crackles are crackles apparently originating in or near the base of the lung. īilateral crackles refers to the presence of crackles in both lungs. Pulmonary crackles are abnormal breath sounds that were formerly referred to as rales. They are usually heard only with a stethoscope ('on auscultation').

/ ˈ r ɑː l z/ ⓘ RAHLZ or / ˈ r æ l z/ RALZ Ĭrackles are the clicking, rattling, or crackling noises that may be made by one or both lungs of a human with a respiratory disease during inhalation, and occasionally during exhalation.

Pneumonia lung sounds audio