Hyperinflated or my doctor called it "barrel chest"
Sounds the same to me. My pulmonologist years ago said that my lungs were inflated, making my stomach area bigger, he called it "barrel chest". I've heard that term before, but "hyperinflated" is new term for me.
Hi. njb. Thank you for your post. "Barrel chest" is an old term describing how your chest appears to be of a "barrel" shape. This is because people with COPD (and also during asthma attacks) have obstructed airways. Air can get in past the obstructions, but has a hard time getting out. This causes a slow expiration. And this also causes air to become trapped inside your lungs. As air gets trapped, this makes it look like you are always inhaling -- and that is how it shows up on an x-ray. A modern term for this is "hyper-inflated" lungs. Does this make sense. We also have various articles describing this process in more detail. I will post a link to them here (https://copd.net/search?s=barrel%20chest). Does this help? John. Community Moderator. copd.net
