Egophony

Egophony (British: Aegophony) is an increased resonance of voice sounds heard when auscultating the lungs, often caused by lung consolidation and fibrosis. It is due to enhanced transmission of high-frequency noise across fluid, such as in abnormal lung tissue, with lower frequencies filtered out. It results in a high-pitched nasal or bleating quality in the affected person's voice.

Technique

While listening to the lungs with a stethoscope, the patient is asked to say the letter "e." What is heard is a higher pitched sound that sounds like the letter "a." Some doctors refer to this as "e to a transition." Most commonly, this indicates pneumonia.

In the UK it is conventional on respiratory examination to auscultate the chest while asking the patient to repeat the word "ninety-nine". There is, however, regional variation with medical students and doctors from Edinburgh and Glasgow often preferring the phrase "one-one-one" due to its more rounded sound.

Related techniques

Similar terms are bronchophony and whispered pectoriloquy. The mechanism is the same: fluid or consolidation causes the sound of the voice to be transmitted loudly to the periphery of the lungs where it is usually not heard.

Causes

• Above the level of pleural effusion
• Pneumonia (lung consolidation)
• Fibrosis

Etymology

Egophony comes from the Greek word for "goat," (αἴξ aix, aig-) in reference to the bleating quality of the sound.

External links

• Abnormal Respiratory Vocal Sounds