cough Flashcards
what is an acute cough defined as?
<3 weeks
what is a chronic cough defined as?
> 8 weeks
most common cause of acute cough
acute upper respiratory tract viral infetion
most common cause of chronic cough in a non-smoker with a normal chest Xray
GORD
chronic sinus disease
what kind of cough does severe asthma or COPD cause?
prolonged wheezy cough
what does a feeble, non-explosive bovine cough with hoarseness suggests?
lung cancer invading the left recurrent laryngeal nerve causing left vocal cord paralysis ≥÷
what kind of cough does laryngeal inflammation, infection or tumour cause?
harsh, barking or painful cough and associated hoarseness
what does a moist cough suggest?
secretions in the upper and larger airways from bronchial infection and bronchiectasis
what does a persistent moist smokers cough suggest?
chronic bronchitis
red flag symptoms associated with cough
haemoptysis breathlessness fever chest pain weight loss
acute cough with a normal chest Xray
viral respiratory tract infection
bacterial infection
inhaled foreign body
acute cough with an abnormal chest Xray
pneumonia
inhaled foreign body
chronic cough with a normal chest Xray
GORD
asthma
chronic cough with an abnormal chest Xray
lung tumour
Tb
ILD
bronchiectasis
what kind of cough does pneumonia cause?
dry, centrally painful and non-productive cough
what kind of cough does ILD cause?
chronic dry cough
which condition is a nocturnal cough disrupting sleep a feature of?
asthma
most common cause of dysphonia (hoarseness)
laryngitis
which conditions do you get wheeze on exercise
asthma and COPD
what does night wakening with wheeze suggest?
asthma or PND
what does wheeze after wakening in the morning suggest?
COPD
what is a wheeze?
high pitched whistling sound produced by air passing through narrowed small airways occurring with expiration
what is stridor?
high pitches produced by airflow turbulence through a partial obstruction of the upper airway. occurring most commonly on inspiration.
what does inspiratory stridor suggest?
narrowing at the vocal cords
what does biphasic stridor suggest?
tracheal obstruction
what does expiratory stridor suggest?
tracheobronchial obstruction
common causes of stridor
infection/inflammation e.g acute epiglottitis in children and tumours of the trachea and main bronchi in adults
cause of stertor
naso or oropharyngeal blockage
causes of clear or ‘mucoid’ sputum production
chronic bronchitis and COPD with no active infection
causes of yellow sputum production
acute LRTI (live neutrophils) and in asthma (eosinophils)
cause of green purulent sputum production
COPD or bronchiectasis (dead neutrophils)
cause of rusty red sputum production
early pneumococcal infection (lysis of RBC)
large volumes of purulent sputum which varies with posture
bronchiectasis
suddenly coughing up large amounts of purulent sputum which varies with posture
rupture of a lung abscess or empyema into the bronchial tree
large volumes of watery sputum with a pink tinge in an acutely breathless patient
pulmonary oedema
causes of foul tasting or smelling sputum
anaerobic bacterial infection occurring in bronchiectasis, lung abscess and empyema
what kind of haemoptysis does bronchiectasis cause?
intermittent haemoptysis associated with copious purulent sputum over years
single episode of haemoptysis associated with symptoms such as pleuritic chest pain and breathlessness
pulmonary thromboembolism
infarction
