The Respiratory System
Lecture 4
Prefixes
 a-
 dys hyper hypo-
 inter tachy-
without
difficult/painful
above /excessive
below /low
between
fast
Suffixes
-algia
-centesis
-dynia
-ectasis
-gram
-graphy
-pathy
-plasty
-pexy
-plegia
-rrhea
-spasm
-stenosis
condition of pain
surgical puncture to remove fluid
condition of pain
dilatation/stretching
X-ray / tracing/ recording
technique of recording /making X-ray
disease of
surgical repair/reconstruction
surgical fixation /fix in place
condition of paralysis
excessive discharge /flow
involuntary contraction
abnormal condition of narrowing
 Humans breathe air into paired lungs through
the nose and mouth during inspiration.
 Whilst air is in the lungs gaseous exchange
takes place; in this process oxygen enters the
blood in exchange for carbon dioxide.
 During expiration, air containing less oxygen
and more carbon dioxide leaves the body.
 The oxygen obtained through gaseous
exchange is required by body cells for cellular
respiration, a process that releases energy from
food.
Word Root
 Rhin
 From a Greek word rhinos, meaning nose.
 Combining forms
 Rhin/o
Word Exercise 1
• Find the meaning of:
A. rhino/scopy ………………
B. rhino/pathy ………………
C. rhin/algia ………………..
D. rhin/itis ……………….
E. rhino/rrhoea ………………
F. rhino/plasty …………….
Word Root
• Nas
– From a Latin word nasus, meaning nose.
• Combining forms
– Nas/o
• Pharyng
– From a Greek word pharynx, meaning throat, here it is
used to mean the pharynx.
• Combining forms
– Pharyng/o
Word Exercise 2
• Find the meaning of:
A. naso/gastr/ic tube ………………..
B. naso-oesophag/eal tube ……………..
Word Exercise 3
• Write the meaning of:
A. pharyng/algia ……………….
B. pharyngo/rrhoea ……………..
• Build words that mean:
C. surgical repair of the pharynx ………………
D. inflammation of the nose and pharynx (use
rhin/o) ……………………
Word Root
 Laryng
 From a Greek word larynx that refers to the
voice box, here it is used to mean the larynx.
 Combining forms
 Laryng/o
Word Exercise 4
• Find the meaning of:
(a) laryngo/logy ……………….
(b) laryngo/pharyng/ectomy …………………..
• Build words that mean:
(c) technique of viewing the larynx …………….
(d) the study of the nose and larynx (use rhin/o)
………………………………..
• When swallowing, food is prevented from falling
into the larynx by the epiglottis, a thin flap of
cartilage lying above the glottis and behind the
tongue.
• When the epiglottis moves, it covers the opening
into the larynx and sound-producing glottis.
• Epiglott/o is the combining form derived from
epiglottis; inflammation of the epiglottis may
produce epiglottitis and tumours may be
removed by epiglottectomy.
Word Exercise 6
• Build words that mean:
A. discharge/excessive flow of mucus from
bronchi ………………
B. an X-ray of the bronchus ………………
C. technique of making an X-ray of the bronchi
…………………………
D. an instrument for the visual examination of the
bronchi ……………………………..
Word Exercise 6
• Find the meaning of:
E. bronch/us …………
F. broncho/plegia ……………….
G. broncho/rrhaphy …………………
H. bronchi/ectasis …………………….
I. broncho/myc/osis ……………….
J. broncho/genie …………………..
K. broncho/spasm …………………….
L. tracheo/bronchi/al ……………………..
Word Exercise 6
• Write the meaning of:
M. laryngo/tracheo/bronch/it is …………
N. bronch/oesophago/stomy …………….
• The smallest bronchioles end in microscopic
air sacs known as alveoli (from Latin alveus,
meaning hollow cavity).
• Alveoli form a large surface area of the lungs
across which the gases oxygen and carbon
dioxide are exchanged.
• The combining form is alveol/o, but few
terms are in use, e.g. alveolitis.
• At the alveolar surface oxygen diffuses into the blood
from the cavities of the alveoli, carbon dioxide diffuses
in the opposite direction and is lost from the body in
expired air.
• Disorders of the breathing and cardiovascular systems
can affect gaseous exchange and therefore the
concentration of these gases in the blood.
• Hypoxia is a condition of deficiency of oxygen in the
tissues (hypo- meaning below/low, -oxia meaning
condition of oxygen).
• Hypercapnia is a condition of too much carbon
dioxide in the blood (hyper- meaning above/excessive,
-capnia meaning a condition of carbon dioxide).
 Poor oxygenation also results in the presence of
large amounts of unoxygenated hemoglobin in the
blood.
 This produces cyanosis, an abnormal condition in
which unoxygenated hemoglobin gives a blue color
to the skin, lips and nail beds (cyan/o meaning
blue, -osis meaning abnormal condition).
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Mr C is 56 years of age and has a long history
of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD).
• He began smoking at the age of 14 and until 6
years ago smoked approximately 25-30
cigarettes per day but now only smokes 2 or 3
per week.
• Five years ago he developed a squamous cell
carcinoma and had a right upper lobectomy.
 Mr C has had two acute exacerbations of
bronchitis in the past year.
 His wife says that over the last few days he has
become increasingly out of breath and has
difficulty in walking, speaking and eating.
 He was seen in casualty with increasing
dyspnoea (-pnea means breathing),
cyanosis and a productive purulent sputum.
• On examination he had a degree of bronchospasm
and was showing signs of hypoxia and hypercapnia.
• His serious condition required his immediate
transfer to the intensive therapy unit (ITU) for
mechanical ventilatory support.
• An arterial catheter for blood gas sampling was
inserted via the left radial artery, and he was sedated.
• He was given a muscle relaxant intravenously to
enable tracheal intubation and commencement of
intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV).
Word Help
• acute symptoms/signs of short duration
• carcinoma malignant growth from epidermal cells/a cancer
• catheter a tube inserted into the body
• chronic lasting/lingering for a long time
• exacerbations acute increased severity of symptoms
• intravenous pertaining to within a vein
• intubation insertion of a tube into a hollow organ in this case the
•
•
•
•
•
trachea
productive producing e.g. producing mucus/sputum
purulent resembling pus/infected
sedated state of reduced activity usually as a result of medication
sputum material expelled from the respiratory passages by coughing or
clearing the throat
squamous pertaining to scale-like/from squamous epithelium