Chronic productive cough in young adults is very often due to chronic rhino-sinusitis

Submitted: February 3, 2016
Accepted: February 3, 2016
Published: February 3, 2016
Abstract Views: 935
PDF: 602
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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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Corsico, A.G., S. Villani, M.C. Zoia, R. Niniano, E. Ansaldo, G. Cervio, P.M. Quaresima, E. Gatto, E. Crippa, A. Marinoni, A. Foresi, E. Pozzi, and I. Cerveri. 2016. “Chronic Productive Cough in Young Adults Is Very Often Due to Chronic Rhino-Sinusitis”. Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease 67 (2). https://doi.org/10.4081/monaldi.2007.495.