MUNICH, Germany, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- The exhaled nitric oxide test is an inexpensive, quick and easy way to determine whether inhaled corticosteroids will relieve chronic cough, says a U.S. study.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., have found that an asthma diagnostic test -- the exhaled nitric oxide test -- could drastically change what is done for patients with chronic cough as well as the guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of chronic cough.
"This very accurate -- but rather underused -- test could be used up front for all patients complaining of chronic cough, saving significant time and expense in other testing," says study leader Dr. Peter Hahn, a Mayo Clinic pulmonologist.
"It helps us get to the treatment and bring relief to the patient in the least invasive, fastest way possible."
The exhaled nitric oxide test measures inflammation in the lungs' bronchial tubes as the patient breathes into an analyzer four or five times over the course of 10 minutes. Abnormal scores indicate that the patient has asthma or possibly non-asthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis; both can be effectively treated with inhaled corticosteroids.
The findings were presented Wednesday at the European Respiratory Society Meeting in Munich, Germany.
