1 HLTH 354: CHAPTER 10 THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM WORD ROOT EXAMPLE NOTES UPPER RESPIRATORY SYSTEM adenoid adenoid/o adenoidectomy, adenoiditis adenoid is formed by adding a suffix to the root adeno, which means "gland": aden/o + oid = resembling a gland. tonsil tonsill/o tonsillectomy, tonsillitis The word tonsil comes from a Latin word meaning "almond." nose nas/o (Latin "nose"), rhin/o (Greek "nose") nasogastric tube, nasendoscope, rhinorrhea, rhinoplasty Rhinoceros is the combination of rhino and ceros (horn), which means "horn nose." larynx (voice box) laryng/o laryngospasm, laryngitis Remember: the letter g is soft when followed by an i and hard when followed by an o pharynx (throat) pharyng/o pharyngitis, pharyngostenosis The pharynx is the pathway used by both food and air. trachea (windpipe) trache/o tracheotomy, tracheostomy From the Greek word for "rough," because of the bumpy ridges that line the outside of the trachea. septum (plural: septa) sept/o septectomy, septoplasty Septum comes from a Latin word meaning "partition" or "dividing structure" and can refer to any wall dividing two cavities. sinus sin/o, sinus/o sinusitis, sinusotomy From a Latin word meaning "hollow" or "cavity," sinus refers generally to any hollow area—specifically, those in bones. air or lungs pneum/o, pneumat/o, pneumon/o pneumomelanosis, pneumatology, pneumonia These roots can mean either "lung" or "air." lungs pulmon/o pulmonologist, pulmonary pulmon/o means only "lung," pneum/o can mean both "lung" (as in pneumonia) and "air" lobe lob/o lobectomy, lobotomy A lobe is a well-defined portion of any organ. The main organs that have lobes are the lungs, brain, and liver. bronchus bronch/o, bronchi/o bronchoscope, bronchiostenosis The main branches from the trachea into each lung. bronchiole bronchiol/o bronchiolitis, bronchiolectasis The root bronchiole is actually formed by adding a diminutive suffix to another root: bronch/o + iole = little bronchus, which is a smaller subdivision of the bronchial tubes. alveolus (air sac) alveol/o alveolitis, alveolar Alveolus comes from a Latin word meaning "hollow" or "cavity." LOWER RESPIRATORY SYSTEM sternum stern/o sternocostal, sternotomy The sternum comes to a point at the bottom called the xiphoid process. The term comes from the Greek word xiphos rib cost/o costectomy, costophrenic Ribs are sometimes grouped into three categories: true, false, and floating.2 chest thorac/o, pector/o (also pectus), steth/o thoracic,pectoralgia, pectus excavatum, stethoscope The root pector/o can also stand as a word by itself. pleura pleur/o pleuritis, pleurectomy The pleura is a membrane surrounding the lungs. diaphragm phren/o phrenospasm, phrenoplegia In addition to the diaphragm, phren/o can also refer to the brain (as in the term schizophrenia). PROCESS OF RESPIRATION oxygen ox/o hypoxia, hypoxemia Hypoxia refers to a lack of oxygen in tissue cells. breathing spir/o, -pnea spirometry, sleep apnea Spir/o also occurs in other words: • Perspire translates as "to breathe through." • Conspire translates as "to breathe together"—no doubt coming from the idea that people who are conspiring can be thought of as being huddled together and breathing the same air. Expire also contains the spir/o root and means "to breathe out." It was originally written as exspire, but the letter s was dropped because x is made up of two k sounds. To test this, say expire and exspire. They are rarely pronounced differently. carbon dioxide capn/o (Greek for "smoke"), carb/o (Latin for "coal") hypercapnia, hypocarbia One of the treatments for hyperventilation is to have the person breathe into a paper bag. A person who is hyperventilating has hypocarbia and thus needs to increase the carbon dioxide in his or her respiratory system.3 SUBJECTIVE Patient History, Problems, Complaints BREATHING PROCESS Term Definition Word Analysis apnea AP-nee-ah cessation of breathing a / pnea not / breathing eupnea YOOP-nee-ah good/normal breathing eu / pnea good / breathing tachypnea ta-KIP-nee-ah rapid breathing tachy / pnea fast / breathing bradypnea brad-ip-NEE-ah slow breathing brady / pnea slow / breathing hypopnea hai-POP-nee-ah shallow breathing hypo / pnea under / breathing hyperpnea hai-perp-NEE-ah heavy breathing hyper / pnea over / breathing dyspnea disp-NEE-ah difficulty breathing dys / pnea bad / breathing orthopnea or-thop-NEE-ah able to breathe only in an upright position ortho / pnea straight / breathing hyperventilation hai-per-ven-ti-LAY-shun overbreathing; condition of having too much air flowing into/out of the lungs; leads to hypocapnia hyper / ventil / ation over / breathing / process hypoventilation hai-po-ven-ti-LAY-shun underbreathing; condition of having too little air flowing into/out of the lungs; leads to hypercapnia hypo / ventil / ation under / breathing / process UPPER RESPIRATORY dysphonia dis-FON-ia bad voice condition (hoarseness) dys / phonia bad / sound / voice epistaxis ep-ee-STAKS-is a nosebleed Greek word epistazo, "to drip out or upon"4 rhinorrhagia rai-no-RAY-jah excessive blood flow from the nose (nosebleed) rhino / rrhagia nose / excessive bleeding rhinorrhea rai-no-REE-yah runny nose rhino / rrhea nose / discharge LOWER RESPIRATORY bronchospasm BRON-ko-spaz-um involuntary contraction of the bronchus broncho / spasm bronchus / involuntary contraction phrenospasm fre-no-SPAZ-um involuntary contraction of the diaphragm (hiccups) phreno / spasm diaphragm / involuntary contraction pleuralgia plur-AL-jah pain in the pleura pleur / algia pleura / pain pleurodynia plur-oh-DIH-nee-ah pain in the pleura pleuro / dynia pleura / pain thoracalgia thor-a-KAL-jah chest pain thorac / algia chest / pain DISCHARGES AND SECRETIONS bronchorrhea bron-koh-REE-ah discharge from the bronchi broncho / rrhea bronchus / discharge expectoration eks-pec-tor-A-shun coughing or spitting material out of the lungs ex / pector / ation out / chest / process hemoptysis heem-op-TIS-is coughing up blood hemo / ptysis blood / cough sputum SPYOO-tum mucus discharged from the lungs by coughing Latin for "spit" OBJECTIVE Observation and Discovery PHYSICAL FINDINGS AND EXAMINATION METHODS Term Definition Word Analysis auscultation ah-skul-TAY-shun a health care professional using a stethoscope to listen to a patient’s chest from the Latin word ausculto, meaning "to