Chronic productive cough in young adults is very often due to chronic rhino-sinusitis.
Monaldi Arch Chest Dis
; 67(2): 90-4, 2007 Jun.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17695692
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Chronic productive cough is a common clinical problem; often potential causes outside the lower respiratory tract are forgotten or ignored. The aim of this study was to make a precise etiopathogenetic diagnosis of chronic productive cough in young adults.METHODS:
In a clinical setting, 212 subjects (mean age 41+/-5 years) who had reported chronic productive cough in a previous postal survey of a young adult population underwent within two years clinical and functional investigations following a rational diagnostic approach. Two pulmonologists independently established the diagnosis using a clinically structured interview on nasal and respiratory symptoms, spirometry and other tests when appropriate (bronchodilator test or methacholine bronchial challenge, chest radiography); if rhino-sinusitis was suspected, subjects underwent an ENT examination with nasal endoscopy and/or sinus computed tomography.RESULTS:
At the end of the diagnostic procedure, 87 subjects (41%) no longer had chronic productive cough and had normal function. Fifty-eight subjects (27%) had chronic rhino-sinusitis; seventeen subjects (8%) had asthma, and of these fourteen also had chronic rhino-sinusitis; 50 subjects (24%) had COPD stage 0+, of these seven also had chronic rhino-sinusitis. Chronic rhino-sinusitis was more frequent in females than in males (p<0.05).CONCLUSIONS:
Both in clinical practice and in epidemiological studies, it is important to consider that the origin of chronic productive cough could be frequently outside the lower respiratory tract; a consistent percentage of young adults with persistent productive cough has indeed chronic rhino-sinusitis.
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Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Sinusitis
/
Rinitis
/
Tos
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
Límite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Monaldi Arch Chest Dis
Año:
2007
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Italia