Cardiopulmonary Exam Skills Practice Test

Vesicular breath sounds arise from air moving through the small airways and alveoli in the peripheral lungs. They are soft, low-pitched sounds heard mainly during inspiration and fading as expiration begins. Because these sounds come from the distal parts of the airways, they are heard across most of the chest away from the central airways—essentially over the peripheral lung fields, including the bases.

In contrast, sounds heard over the trachea and near the center of the chest are louder, higher pitched, and have a different pattern (bronchial sounds), reflecting airflow in the larger airways. So vesicular sounds are best described as the normal sounds heard all over the chest distal to the central airways.