This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Sign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages without signing in

Clinical features of chronic bronchitis

Authoring team

Patients with chronic obstructive airways disease may manifest features anywhere along the spectrum between being a pink puffer and a blue bloater. However, patients with chronic bronchitis may tend more towards the features of a blue bloater.

Clinical features of blue bloaters include:

  • relatively mild dyspnoea
  • loose cough and sputum - mucoid or mucopurulent
  • frequent infective exacerbations
  • often oedematous and readily lapse into right congestive heart failure
  • palpation reveals a hyperinflated chest with reduced expansion
  • percussion reveals increased resonance
  • breath sounds are reduced with end-expiratory high or low pitched wheezes and early inspiratory crackles.

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.