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Illusion of Knowledge > General Category > Diagnostic Tests (non-rad) > "Ninety-nine, Ninety-nine"
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Author Topic: "Ninety-nine, Ninety-nine"  (Read 495 times)
pspressman
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« on: July 25, 2008, 01:35:26 PM »
We are commonly taught in medical school to seearch for tactile fremitus during the chest exam.  Tactile fremitus has been used in several ways- it may describe any vibrations perceived in a tactile manner, rather than acoustic.  Students are taught to say the number 99 in order to elicit these vibrations.  In truth, this results from a misunderstanding of some postgraduate doctors in Germany being told to say the original German "neun und neunzig."  This uses a dipthong not found in "ninety nine," but similar to "toy boat."  Research has shown this dipthong is essential to the characteristic of the sound useful for diagnostics.

Dock W. Examination of the chest: advantages of conducting and reporting it in English. Bull NY Acad Med 1973;49: 575-582   
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