만성기침 환자의 원인 질환 및 엄상상 = Causes and clinical features of patient with chronic cough

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Purpose: Chronic cough is a common clinical problem. Eosinophilic bronchitis is animportant cause of chronic cough. This study was aimed to investigate the cause of chronic cough and to evaluate the cause of chronic cough with sputum eosinophilia.
Subjects and methods: The causes of 99 patients who had been coughing for more than 3 weeks were evaluated. Chest X-ray and paranasal sinus x-ray, induced sputum, methacholine bronchial provocation test and skin prick test were performed.
Results: The causes of chronic cough were postnasal drip syndrome (PNDS) in 47.5%, cough variant asthma in 29.3%, and eosinophilic bronchitis (EB) in 7.1%. Eosinophilia in induced sputum were observed in 41.4% of patients. Among 41 patients with sputum eosinophilia, PNDS and gatroesophageal reflux diseases (GERD) were found to be combined in 15 and 3 patients, respectively.
Conclusion: Sputum eosinophilia is frequently observed in chronic cough. Eosinophilic bronchitis is an important cause of chronic cough and it is likely to be associated with PNDS and GERD. Assessment of airway inflammation by induced sputum examination is important in evaluating the cause of chronic cough.