Chronic Cough: The Spectrum and Frequency of Causes, Key Components of the Diagnostic Evaluation, and Outcome of Specific Therapy

A successful, systematic, anatomic, diagnostic protocol for evaluating patients with chronic cough was presented in 1981. To determine whether it was still valid, we prospectively evaluated, over a 22-month interval, 102 consecutive and unselected immunocompetent patients complaining of cough an average of 53 +/- 97 months (range, 3 wk to 50 yr). Utilizing the anatomic, diagnostic protocol modified to include prolonged esophageal pH monitoring...