New Therapy Helps Treat Severe Asthmatic Cough

Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) is a new device-based therapy approved by the FDA in 2010. A series of three radio-frequency treatments are used to open the airways of adults with a severe asthmatic cough.

Bronchial thermoplasty is a new viable treatment for patients suffering from severe asthmatic cough, which works better than other conventional therapies.

A brief case report is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

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‘Bronchial thermoplasty helps treat patients with severe asthmatic cough much better than any traditional therapeutic approaches.’

Researchers from Nagoya City University in Nagoya, Japan report the case of a 34-year-old woman with asthma and a 2.5 year history of chronic cough.

Despite treatment with high-dose inhaled corticosteroids, long-acting β2-agonists, and leukotriene-receptor antagonists, the patient's cough had worsened and was awakening her at night and disturbing her conversations.

Since all conventional treatments seemed to fail, the researchers used bronchial thermoplasty to treat all visible bronchi.

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The patient had three procedures at 3-week intervals.

The cough improved immediately after the first procedure. Three months after the final procedure, the patient had improved in frequency, cough-related quality of life, and asthma control.

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The number of capsaicin-induced coughs also decreased, but measures of systemic eosinophilic and airway inflammation and pulmonary function remained unchanged.

The authors conclude that bronchial thermoplasty should be considered in patients with severe asthmatic cough who have not responded to traditional therapeutic approaches.

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Source-Eurekalert