Association Between Chronic Cough and Gastroesophageal Reflux

Objective: To explore the association between chronic cough and gastroesophageal reflux(GER),and to investigate the clinical features,diagnosis and treatment of gastroesophageal reflux induced cough(GERC).Methods: Continuous ambulatory esophageal pH measurement was performed for 24 hour in 43 cases with chronic cough who had normal chest X-ray presentation,negative histamine provocation test and no abnormality of nasal cavity.The symptom association probability(SAP) was adopted to analyze the correlation of cough with gastroesophageal reflux.The unusual GER was defined subsequently if one of the following index was found: ① Total scores of far electrode Demeester≥12.70 in 24 hours surveillance of esophageal pH value.② Total scores of far electrode Demeester 12.70,but SAP ≥75% at least in one electrode.Once the diagnosis of unusual GER was established,anti-reflux medications were utilized to the patients for consecutive 12 weeks.Results: 26 out of 43 cases had GER and were diagnosed as GERC.The GERC patients were treated with anti-refluxdrugs.After treatment,cough in 12 patients were disappeared completely and the other 14 cases had no response.Conclusion: It can be concluded that the GER is closely associated with cough and may be an important inducing factor of chronic cough.Continuous esophageal pH measurement for the frequency and severity of gastroesophageal reflux and the SAP of cough were main diagnostic procedures for GERC.The patients with GERC should be treated with anti-reflux.