Differential diagnosis of chronic cough in children
| Chronic suppurative lung disease |
| • Cystic fibrosis |
| • Immune deficiencies |
| • Primary ciliary dyskinesia |
| • Recurrent pulmonary aspiration |
| • Retained inhaled foreign body |
| • Chronic bronchitis |
| • Congenital causes (eg Mounier–Kuhn syndrome) and other less common causes |
| Environmental pulmonary toxic agents |
| • Tobacco smoke exposure |
| • Other environmental pollutants (eg biomass combustion particles) |
| Airways lesion |
| • Compression, eg lymph nodes, vascular ring |
| • Malacia, often with an airway infection |
| Upper airway disease |
| • Adenotonsillar hypertrophy |
| • Rhinosinisitis |
| Oesophageal/swallowing problems |
| • Aspiration |
| • Neuromuscular disease |
| • Tracheo-oesophageal fistula |
| Interstitial lung disease |
| • Auto-immune disorders |
| • Cytotoxic drugs/irradiation |
| Infections |
| • Acute respiratory infections and post-infections, pertussis like illness (parapertussis, adenovirus, mycoplasma and Chlamydia) |
| • Recurrent viral bronchitis |
| • Tuberculosis |
| Others |
| • Protracted bronchitis |
| • Increased cough receptor sensitivity |
| • Functional respiratory disorder (habitual cough or “vocal tic”) |
| • Asthma/asthma-like conditions |
| • Non-asthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis and allergy |
| • Medications and treatment side effects |
| • Otogenic causes, eg Arnold’s ear–cough reflex • Cardiac failure |