Intensive Care Medicine (ICM) Practice Exam

What is the term for the sound heard when a patient says the letter E, and it changes to A?

1. Rales

2. Fremitus

3. Egophony

4. Orthopnea

The correct answer is: Egophony

The term for the phenomenon where the sound changes from E to A when a patient vocalizes the letter "E" is known as egophony. This finding is associated with the presence of lung consolidation or other pathologies that affect the lung tissue, such as pneumonia. When the lungs are consolidated, the normal transmission of sound waves through the lung tissue is altered, leading to the alteration in the quality of the sound produced by the vocal cords when it travels through the affected area. Egophony is a valuable clinical sign during a physical examination of a patient’s lungs, as it can help healthcare professionals identify areas of lung pathology that may require further investigation or treatment. This differentiates it from other terms such as rales, which refer to abnormal lung sounds often associated with fluid in the airways, and fremitus, which relates to the palpable vibrations transmitted through the chest wall when a patient speaks. Orthopnea, on the other hand, describes a condition where a patient experiences difficulty breathing when lying flat but is unrelated to changes in vocal resonance.