All that crackles is not failure

In Elderly heart failure is common. Appearance of pulmonary crackles(rales) is an important sign. But the presence of age-related pulmonary crackles might interfere with a physician's clinical management of patients with suspected heart failure

Pearls for Practice

• The prevalence of pulmonary crackles in persons without structural or functional heart disease increases with age, 3 times for every decade older than 45 years.
• Age-related pulmonary crackles are likely to be fine and basilar, located in the lower quadrant of the lung field.

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