Fundoplication in chronic intractable cough.

BACKGROUND: Airway reflux is a common cause of chronic cough and this is often refractory to medical therapy. Surgery in the form of Nissen fundoplication has been highly successful in the treatment of the classic reflux symptoms of heartburn and dyspepsia. There is a paucity of data regarding response to fundoplication in patients presenting with chronic cough. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the case notes of patients from the Hull Cough Clinic who had undergone Nissen fundoplication over the past 6 years. Demographic details, duration of symptoms, presence of other symptoms, results of oesophageal studies, outcome and complications were recorded. Patients were contacted by post and asked to complete a questionnaire detailing current symptoms. In a subgroup with continued troublesome cough 24 hour pharyngeal pH measurements were undertaken. RESULTS: Forty seven patients underwent fundoplication. The average duration of pre-operative cough was 8 years. Gastro intestinal symptoms were present in the majority. In 30 (64%) patients a positive response to treatment was recorded. Mild dysphagia or bloating was seen in 18 patients following surgery. Four patients needed repeat surgical intervention for modification of fundoplication. One patient developed aspiration pneumonia eight weeks following surgery and died of a myocardial infarction. Two thirds of patients with persisting cough had evidence of airway reflux on pharyngeal pH monitoring. CONCLUSION: In these patients with intractable cough a long term response rate of 63% represents a useful therapeutic option. Treatment failure is more frequent than for classic peptic symptoms and may be related to persistent gaseous reflux.

Chronic cough and esomeprazole: a double-blind placebo-controlled parallel study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Gastro-oesophageal reflux has been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic cough. Guidelines on management suggest a therapeutic trial of anti-reflux medication. Esomeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor licensed for the long-term treatment of acid reflux in adults and we compared the effects of esomeprazole and placebo on patients with chronic cough. METHODS: This was a prospective, single-centre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group study conducted over 8weeks. Fifty adult non-smokers with chronic cough and normal spirometry were randomized. Patients completed cough-related quality-of-life and symptom questionnaires and subjective scores of cough frequency and severity at the beginning and end of the study. They also kept a daily diary of symptom scores. Citric acid cough challenge and laryngoscopic examination were performed at baseline and the end of the study. The primary outcome was improvement in cough score. RESULTS: There were no differences in cough scores in the placebo and treatment arms of the study although some significant improvements were noted when compared to baseline. In the cough diary scores there was a trend towards greater improvement in the treatment arm in patients with dyspepsia. CONCLUSIONS: Esomeprazole did not have a clinically important effect greater than placebo in patients with cough. It suggests a marked placebo effect in the treatment of cough.

Gastro-oesophageal reflux, eosinophilic airway inflammation and chronic cough.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Patients with eosinophilic airway inflammation (EAI) often show a therapeutic response to corticosteroids. Non-invasive methods of diagnosing EAI are potentially useful in guiding therapy, particularly in conditions such as chronic cough, for which corticosteroids may not be the first-line treatment. METHODS: The value of exhaled nitric oxide (ENO) in the diagnosis of EAI was prospectively investigated in a cohort of 116 patients with chronic cough of varying aetiology. An optimum cut-off value was derived for differentiating between EAI and non-EAI causes of chronic cough. As the diagnosis was gastro-oesophageal reflux in 70 patients (60.3% of the total), the possible relationship between ENO and EAI in the presence or absence of reflux was subsequently investigated. RESULTS: The optimum value of ENO for differentiating EAI (32% of patients) from non-EAI causes of cough was 33 parts per billion (sensitivity 60.5%, specificity 84.6%). In the subgroup of patients with reflux, ENO was highly specific for the diagnosis of EAI (sensitivity 66%, specificity 100%). Conversely, in the patients without reflux, ENO did not discriminate between cough due to EAI or other causes (sensitivity 100%, specificity 28.9%). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the presence or absence of reflux should be taken into consideration when interpreting ENO measurements in the diagnosis of chronic cough associated with EAI.

Airway reflux, cough and respiratory disease.

It is increasingly accepted that the effects of gastro-oesophageal reflux are not limited to the gastrointestinal tract. The adjacent respiratory structures are also at risk from material ejected from the proximal oesophagus as a result of the failure of anatomical and physiological barriers. There is evidence of the influence of reflux on several respiratory and otorhinological conditions and although in many cases the precise mechanism has yet to be elucidated, the association alone opens potential novel avenues of therapy to clinicians struggling to treat patients with apparently intractable respiratory complaints. This review provides a description of the airway reflux syndrome, its effects on the lung and current and future therapeutic options.

Treatment of cystic fibrosis associated cutaneous vasculitis with chloroquine.

Vasculitis is a well recognised complication of Cystic Fibrosis. Corticosteroids are the mainstay of treatment but some cases can be resistant and may require additional disease modifying agents. We describe a case of steroid resistant cutaneous vasculitis which was successfully treated with chloroquine in addition to corticosteroids and a subsequent relapse with chloroquine alone.