An able airman with a disqualify-. ing diagnosis, after FAA review, is given. a letter that permits any Aviation Medi-. cal Examiner to certify after reviewing. the pilot's current medical status, with-. out involving the bureaucracy.
Normal Lung Sounds. Normal breath sounds are classified as tracheal, bronchial, and vesicular sounds. The patterns of normal breath sounds are created by the effect of body structures on air moving through airway. Normal lung sounds can be considered abnormal when the sound occurs in an area in which the sounds should not be present.
Abnormal breath sounds include: the absence of sound and/or ; the presence of normal sounds in areas where they are normally not heard. For example, bronchial (loud & tubular) breath sounds are abnormal in peripheral areas where only vesicular (soft & rustling) sounds should be heard. When bronchial sounds are heard in areas distant from where they normally occur, the patient may have consolidation (as occurs with pneumonia) or compression of the lung. These conditions cause the lung tissue to be dense. The dense tissue transmits sound from the lung bronchi much more efficiently than through the air-filled alveoli of the normal lung. The term âadventitiousâ breath sounds refers to extra or additional sounds that are heard over normal breath sounds.