Medical Terminology Flashcards: Respiratory System Terms, Lungs, Breathing, Airways

Dyspnea is the medical term for difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. It breaks into dys meaning difficult or painful and pnea meaning breathing. Dyspnea can range from mild breathlessness during exertion to severe air hunger at rest. Common causes include asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, heart failure, anemia, anxiety, and pulmonary embolism. Related terms include tachypnea meaning abnormally fast breathing, bradypnea meaning slow breathing, apnea meaning absence of breathing, and orthopnea meaning difficulty breathing when lying flat.

Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs, which may fill with fluid or pus. The term combines pneumo meaning lung and ia indicating a condition. Pneumothorax is a collapsed lung caused by air leaking into the space between the lung and chest wall. It combines pneumo meaning air and thorax meaning chest. Despite sharing the prefix pneumo, the conditions are completely different: pneumonia is an infectious and inflammatory process, while pneumothorax is a mechanical problem where air in the wrong space compresses the lung.

Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchial tubes that carry air to and from the lungs. The term combines bronch meaning bronchial tubes and itis meaning inflammation. Acute bronchitis is usually caused by viral infections and resolves within a few weeks with symptoms of cough, mucus production, and chest discomfort. Chronic bronchitis is defined as a productive cough lasting at least three months in two consecutive years and is a form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.

Atelectasis means the collapse or incomplete expansion of lung tissue, resulting in reduced gas exchange. The term breaks into atel meaning incomplete and ectasis meaning expansion or stretching. It commonly occurs after surgery when patients breathe shallowly due to pain, allowing sections of lung to collapse. Other causes include airway obstruction by mucus plugs or tumors, pleural effusion compressing the lung, and prolonged bed rest. Incentive spirometry, deep breathing exercises, and early ambulation after surgery prevent atelectasis.

Pulmonary embolism is a blockage in one of the pulmonary arteries in the lungs, usually caused by a blood clot that travels from the deep veins of the legs. Pulmonary comes from pulmo meaning lung, and embolism means obstruction by a traveling clot or other material. Symptoms include sudden shortness of breath, chest pain that worsens with breathing, rapid heart rate, cough possibly with bloody sputum, and anxiety. Large pulmonary emboli can be immediately life-threatening by blocking blood flow through the lungs.

Hemoptysis means coughing up blood or bloody mucus from the lungs or airways. The term combines hemo meaning blood and ptysis meaning spitting. It should be distinguished from hematemesis, which is vomiting blood from the gastrointestinal tract. Hemoptysis can range from blood-streaked sputum to massive life-threatening hemorrhage. Common causes include bronchitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis, lung cancer, pulmonary embolism, and bronchiectasis. Even small amounts of hemoptysis require medical evaluation because they may indicate serious underlying disease.

Pleurisy, also called pleuritis, is inflammation of the pleura, the thin double-layered membrane surrounding the lungs and lining the chest cavity. The term combines pleur meaning pleura and itis or isy meaning inflammation. Pleurisy causes sharp chest pain that worsens with breathing. A pleural effusion is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the pleural space between the two layers of the membrane. Effusion comes from the Latin for pouring out. Small effusions may be asymptomatic, while large ones compress the lung and cause dyspnea. ---