BACKGROUND: It is not clear whether careful history taking with detailed questioning of the characteristics of cough is diagnostically useful. OBJECTIVE: To determine if the character, timing, or complications of chronic cough were helpful in determining its cause. METHODS: A prospective, descriptive study of consecutive, unselected, immunocompetent patients referred to our university outpatient clinic because of chronic cough. All patients were evaluated by a previously published and validated systematic diagnostic protocol, a self-administered questionnaire, and by observing the character of involuntary and voluntary coughs. The final diagnosis of the cause of cough required fulfillment of pretreatment criteria plus having cough disappear or substantially improve as a complaint with specific therapy. RESULTS: Eighty-eight patients met inclusion criteria and were fully evaluated. The mean +/- SD age was 53.1 +/- 16 years (range, 15-83 years) and 24 were males and 64 were females with a mean +/- SD history of cough for 6.6 +/- 9.8 years (range, 1 month-44 years). The cause of chronic cough was established in 86 (98%) of 88 patients. Eighty-one (92%) of 88 had cough disappear as a complaint. Cough was as a result of a single cause in 39% and multiple causes in 59%. Gastroesophageal reflux disease, postnasal drip syndrome, and asthma were the 3 most common causes of chronic cough and accounted for 90% of diagnoses. Gastroesophageal reflux disease, postnasal drip syndrome, and asthma were again found to be the 3 most common causes of chronic cough irrespective of patient estimated quantity of daily sputum production. These 3 conditions caused chronic cough in 99.4% of patients with the following characteristics:(1) nonsmoker;(2) not receiving an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor drug; and (3) normal or nearly normal and stable chest radiograph. With respect to the spectrum and frequency of diagnoses and their interrelationships with the character, timing, and complications of cough, multiple stepwise linear regression analysis showed that none of the variability of the character, timing, or complications of cough could be explained by any specific diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: A carefully taken history with detailed questioning of the character, timing, and complications of chronic cough is not likely to be useful in diagnosing the cause of cough. The cause can be determined and successfully treated with specific therapy in the greatest majority of cases. Chronic cough is often caused by multiple, simultaneously contributing causes. Postnasal drip syndrome, asthma, and gastroesophageal reflux disease remain the 3 most common causes of chronic cough and there is a clinical profile that nearly always predicts their presence in immunocompetent patients.

BACKGROUND: Patients with more frequent exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may have increased bronchial inflammation. Airway inflammation was measured in patients who had been thoroughly investigated with full pulmonary function testing, thoracic HRCT scanning, and sputum microbiology to examine further the relationship between exacerbation frequency and bronchial inflammation. METHODS: Airway inflammation (spontaneous sputum sol phase myeloperoxidase (MPO), elastase, leukotriene (LT)B(4), interleukin (IL)-8, secretory leukoprotenase inhibitor (SLPI), protein leakage) and serum levels of C reactive protein (CRP) were compared in 40 patients with stable, smoking related COPD, divided into those with frequent (> or =3/year) or infrequent (< or =2/year) exacerbations according to the number of primary care consultations during the preceding year. The comparisons were repeated after excluding eight otherwise clinically indistinguishable patients who had tubular bronchiectasis on the HRCT scan. RESULTS: Patients with frequent (n=12) and infrequent (n=28) exacerbations were indistinguishable in terms of their clinical, pulmonary function, and sputum characteristics, CRP concentrations, and all of their bronchial inflammatory parameters (p>0.05). The patients without evidence of tubular bronchiectasis (n=32) were equally well matched but the sputum concentrations of SLPI were significantly lower in the frequent exacerbators (n=8) in this subset analysis (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There are several clinical features that directly influence bronchial inflammation in COPD. When these were carefully controlled for, patients with more frequent reported exacerbations had lower sputum concentrations of SLPI. This important antiproteinase is also known to possess antibacterial and antiviral activity. Further studies are required into the nature of recurrent exacerbations and, in particular, the regulation and role of SLPI in affected individuals.

Asthma is common, affecting 5% to 10% of adults; asthma is progressive, leading to irreversible obstruction in 80% of elderly patients; and asthma is complex, often complicated by coexisting lung diseases. This loss of lung function results from 4 independent pathologic conditions:(1) airway remodeling, especially in the small airways, from the lymphocytic-eosinophilic inflammation that characterizes asthma;(2) bronchiectasis;(3) postinfectious pulmonary fibrosis; and (4) emphysema and chronic bronchitis from tobacco smoke. Deterioration in lung function develops faster in nonallergic patients with intrinsic asthma during the period shortly after onset of asthma and in older patients. About 4% of patients die of asthma, and most are elderly. Death most often results from complications of irreversible obstruction or cardiotoxicity of bronchodilator therapy. More research is needed to improve therapy for preventing remodeling of small airways, to confirm the frequency of bronchiectasis and postinfectious fibrosis and to determine their causes, and to develop diagnostic criteria to identify these complications. Meanwhile, clinicians treating adult asthmatic patients need to be aggressive in preventing the damage from cigarette smoke; in immunizing for influenza and pneumococcus infection and identifying and treating respiratory infections, particularly at times of acute exacerbations; in diagnosing and managing bronchiectasis; and in objectively confirming the efficacy of asthma therapy to prevent illness from overtreatment with glucocorticoids and bronchodilators.

Sputum isolation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is associated with extensive disease in bronchiectasis. It is not known, however, whether infection with P. aeruginosa is the result or the cause of severe disease. We compared spirometry in patients with bronchiectasis before and after infection with P. aeruginosa, with that of patients infected by other organisms. All patients (n=12) with chronic colonization by P. aeruginosa (PA group) were studied. These were compared with other patients with bronchiectasis with no isolations of P. aeruginosa (n=37, non-PA group). In the PA group, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) were lower than in the non-PA group. The PA group, however, also had lower values at the time of initial colonization with P. aeruginosa than the current values for the non-PA group. Change in FEV1 and FVC over time was faster in the PA group than in the non-PA group. Reduction of FEV1 and FVC over time in the PA group prior to P. aeruginosa colonization was intermediate, not being statistically different from either value above. Our results confirm the association of chronic P. aeruginosa colonization with poor lung function, but conclude that patients with bronchiectasis who become colonized by P. aeruginosa have poorer lung function when first colonized than those colonized by other organisms. Decline in lung function is faster in those chronically colonized by P. aeruginosa than in those colonized by other organisms. It is not clear whether chronic P. aeruginosa colonization causes an accelerated decline in lung function or whether it is simply a marker of those whose lung function is already declining rapidly.

OBJECTIVES: To report our experience with bronchial arteriography and bronchial artery embolization (BAE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A review of clinical experience to evaluate the demographics, clinical presentation, radiographic studies, bronchoscopy, and complications of bronchial arteriography and BAE at Mayo Medical Center, Rochester, MN, from 1981 to 2000. RESULTS: Fifty-four patients underwent bronchial arteriography. There were 34 men and 20 women with a mean age of 53 years. Hemoptysis was the most common indication in 53 patients (98%). Hemoptysis was caused by bronchiectasis (9 patients), pulmonary hypertension (9 patients), malignancy (7 patients), mycetoma (7 patients), and other identified causes (14 patients). The cause could not be identified in eight patients. Bronchoscopy was performed in 49 patients (92%), and the results identified the bleeding lobe in 32 patients, lateralized the side of the bleeding in 5 patients, and were not helpful in 12 patients. Bronchial arteriography revealed hypervascularity (45 patients), bronchial artery hypertrophy (17 patients), hypervascularity with shunting (15 patients), dense soft tissue staining (8 patients), vascular abnormalities (7 patients), and extravasation of contrast (1 patient). BAE was attempted in 54 patients, completed in 51 patients, and was unsuccessful in 3 patients. Overall, 72 embolization sessions were performed with a total of 131 arteries embolized, and the average number of arteries embolized per patient was 2.5. Control of hemoptysis was observed in 46 patients (85%) at 1 month. Rebleeding occurred within 30 days in five patients. Eight patients had recurrent hemoptysis that occurred 30 days after the procedure. The complications of embolization included subintimal dissection of a bronchial artery (two patients), bronchial arterial perforation by a guidewire (one patient), and the reflux of embolic material into the aorta without adverse sequelae (one patient). CONCLUSIONS: BAE is a useful therapy to control both acute and chronic hemoptysis. BAE may help to avoid surgery in patients who are not good surgical candidates. Should hemoptysis recur in these patients, repeat embolization can be performed safely.