Bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) could be considered as an almost accurate  predictor of cough-variant asthma (CVA) in nonsmoking adults with chronic cough (CC). A new study published in Respiratory Research confirmed a high positive predictive value (PPV) of bronchial hyperresponsiveness in 49 patients who completed the entire study.  

The study, performed at the Department of Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Diseases, and Allergy of the Medical University of Warsaw between 2016 and 2020, demonstrated high PPV of BHR for the diagnosis of CVA in selected patients with chronic cough suspected to have CVA. Most of these patients showed significant and rapid improvement after the first-step treatment. On the other hand, 12 percent of patients did not respond to treatment despite a high clinical probability of CVA. 

The research report said that there have been no previous studies on the response to anti-asthmatic therapy in CC adults with BHR. However, asthmatic cough diagnosis and further decision making on continuation or discontinuation of anti-asthmatic treatment should be based on thorough and objective assessment of response to therapy in patients with suspicion of CVA, the researchers said.