Cough-Variant Asthma Syndrome

Cough-variant asthma (CVA) is characterized by persistent, dry cough and has no other typical asthma symptoms, such as wheezing or shortness of breath. It is often mistaken for regular coughing or other types of asthma.

Identification

• The main symptom for CVA is a cough that has lasted longer than six to eight weeks and is non-responsive to many conventional treatments for cough.

Causes

• Although the source of CVA is unknown, it can be caused by airborne allergens, breathing cold air or an upper respiratory infection.

Who Get It?

• Children between the ages of 5 and 12 are the most common group to get CVA, although adults and teenagers who have a history of childhood asthma can have CVA as well.

Diagnosis

• One common way for physicians to diagnose CVA is with a spirometer, which measures how much air a patient can exhale after taking a deep breath, and how quickly the patient can empty her lungs.

  A methacholine inhalation challenge test (MIC) is often used in hospitals to determine if a patient has asthma by inhaling methacholine, which causes the airways to spasm and narrow if asthma is present.

Treatment

• CVA is treated like regular asthma, which includes an asthma inhaler with albuterol or ipratropium or with bronchodilators like beta-2 agonists and inhaled corticosteroids.