Describing a type of breathing sound heard through a stethoscope that combines bronchial sounds with hollow, cave-like resonance, often indicating lung cavities from tuberculosis.
From broncho- (bronchial airways) plus cavernous (from Latin caverna meaning 'cave'). The term describes the distinctive acoustic quality produced by air moving through both airways and hollow lung cavities.
Doctors trained in the pre-antibiotic era became incredibly skilled at diagnosing tuberculosis just by listening with a stethoscope—the 'bronchocavernous' breath sound was virtually diagnostic, and this physical exam skill is sadly becoming lost as X-rays and scans replace careful listening.
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