History Taking as a Diagnostic Tool in Children With Chronic Cough

Role of Spirometry, Radiology, and Flexible Bronchoscopy in Assessing Chronic Cough in Children

Chronic cough in children is a common and multifaceted symptom, often requiring a comprehensive approach for accurate diagnosis and effective management. This review explores the use of spirometry, radiology (chest X-rays and computed tomography (CT) scans), and flexible bronchoscopy in the assessment of chronic cough in children through current guidelines and studies. The strengths, clinical indications, and limitations of each modality are examined. Spirometry, radiology, and in some cases flexible bronchoscopy are integral to the assessment of chronic cough in children; however, a tailored approach, leveraging the strengths of each modality and guided by clinical indications, enhances diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic outcomes of pediatric chronic cough.

Analysis of virtual standardized patients for assessing clinical fundamental skills of medical students: a prospective study

BACKGROUND

History-taking is an essential clinical competency for qualified doctors. The limitations of the standardized patient (SP) in taking history can be addressed by the virtual standardized patient (VSP). This paper investigates the accuracy of virtual standardized patient simulators and evaluates the applicability of the improved system's accuracy for diagnostic teaching support and performance assessment.

METHODS

Data from the application of VSP to medical residents and students were gathered for this prospective study. In a human-machine collaboration mode, students completed exams involving taking SP histories while VSP provided real-time scoring. Every participant had VSP and SP scores. Lastly, using the voice and text records as a guide, the technicians will adjust the system's intention recognition accuracy and speech recognition accuracy.

RESULTS

The research revealed significant differences in scoring across several iterations of VSP and SP (p < 0.001). Across various clinical cases, there were differences in application accuracy for different versions of VSP (p < 0.001). Among training groups, the diarrhea case showed significant differences in speech recognition accuracy (Z = -2.719, p = 0.007) and intent recognition accuracy (Z = -2.406, p = 0.016). Scoring and intent recognition accuracy improved significantly after system upgrades.

CONCLUSION

VSP has a comprehensive and detailed scoring system and demonstrates good scoring accuracy, which can be a valuable tool for history-taking training.

Patient response to the management during the acute presentation of cough variant Asthma: Retrospective cohort study

The clinical improvement after assessing patients with cough variant asthma in outpatient clinics, and therapy success varied depending on the subjective improvement. Cough could be controlled within appropriate time and subsequent management can consist of inhaled corticosteroids. In this study we used the cough improvement, the only available clinical response, as a predictable factor to determine the effect of different modalities of treatment among patients with cough variant asthma. Retrospective observational analysis was performed in Saudi Arabia's King Saud University Medical City, on the presentation, diagnosis, course of therapy, and responsiveness to oral and inhaled steroids in patients with cough variant asthma. All patients who visited the clinic on multiple occasions with persistent, acute coughing without being pre-screened between September 2021 and September 2022 included based on medical records. Cough resembles cough variant asthma is the term used to describe a cough without a diagnosed etiology. To identify patients eligible for CVA treatment, iindividuals having GERD-associated cough, allergic rhinitis, bronchial asthma, smokers and atopic cough was excluded. For the examination of these findings, IBM SPSS version 28 (Armonk, NY, USA) was employed. As a result of using budesonide-formoterol inhaler, most patients (86.3 %) showed improvement in their cough symptoms (with 95 %CI: 78.3 to 94.9). There was a significant yet weak positive correlation between the frequency of cough symptoms before and after using budesonide-formoterol (r = 0.318, P value < 0.001). The understanding of treatment response and patient selection for budesonide-formoterol inhaler therapy, providing clinicians with valuable information to optimize patient care.

Chronic respiratory disorders due to aberrant innominate artery: a case series and critical review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Tracheal compression (TC) due to vascular anomalies is an uncommon, but potentially serious cause of chronic respiratory disease in childhood. Vascular slings are congenital malformations resulting from abnormal development of the great vessels; in this group of disorders the most prevalent entity is the aberrant innominate artery (AIA). Here we provide a report on diagnosis and treatment of AIA in nine children with unexplained chronic respiratory symptoms. We describe the cases, perform a literature review, and provide a discussion on the diagnostic workup and treatment that can help manage AIA.

METHODS

Clinical history, diagnostic procedures and treatment before and after the AIA diagnosis were retrospectively reviewed in nine children (5 boys and 4 girls), who were referred for recurrent-to-chronic respiratory manifestations over 10 years (2012-2022). We performed a comprehensive report on the ongoing clinical course and treatment as well as an electronic literature search on the topic.

RESULTS

Diagnoses at referral, before AIA was identified, were chronic dry barking cough associated with recurrent pneumonia (n = 8, 89%), lobar/segmental atelectasis (n = 3, 33%), atopic/non atopic asthma (n = 3, 33%); pneumomediastinum with subcutaneous emphysema complicated the clinical course in one case. When referred to our Unit, all patients had been previously treated with repeated antibiotic courses (n = 9, 100%), alone (n = 6, 67%) or combined with prolonged antiasthma medications (n = 3, 33%) and/or daily chest physiotherapy (n = 2, 22%), but reported only partial clinical benefit. Median ages at symptom onset and at AIA diagnosis were 1.5 [0.08-13] and 6 [4-14] years, respectively, with a relevant delay in the definitive diagnosis (4.5 years). Tracheal stenosis at computed tomography (CT) was ≥ 51% in 4/9 cases and ≤ 50% in the remaining 5 subjects. Airway endoscopy was performed in 4 cases with CT evidence of tracheal stenosis ≥ 51% and confirmed CT findings. In these 4 cases, the decision of surgery was made based on endoscopy and CT findings combined with persistence of clinical symptoms despite medical treatment. The remaining 5 children were managed conservatively.

CONCLUSIONS

TC caused by AIA may be responsible for unexplained chronic respiratory disease in childhood. Early diagnosis of AIA can decrease the use of expensive investigations or unsuccessful treatments, reduce disease morbidity, and accelerate the path toward a proper treatment.

Process of diagnosis and treatment of chronic cough in children at primary hospitals

Objective

This study aimed to establish a process for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic cough in children suitable at primary hospitals and improve the treatment efficacy rate and improve health economic indicators.

Methods

Children who visited the Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Zhou Pu Hospital of the Shanghai Health Medical College from January to December 2021 were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 206), in which the diagnosis and treatment process proposed here was applied, and a control group (n = 211) that did not follow the intervention pathway and followed a pathway with the doctors usual practice based on his/her previous experience. Patients were followed up and data were collected at weeks 0 (time of enrollment), 2, 4, 8, and 12 to evaluate the efficacy rate and clinical value.

Results

(1) No significant differences were detected between the two groups in baseline characteristics, including gender, age, duration of cough (weeks), history of allergy in children and parents, and smoking of family members living in the same household (p > 0.05); (2) During the follow-up, all cough symptom scores of the intervention group were lower than the control group. Additionally, at week 12, the treatment efficacy rate of the intervention group (91.70%) was significantly higher than the control group (69.20%) (p < 0.05); (3) The quality of life of children in both groups at week 12 was improved compared to the first visit. However, the total score of the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group (p < 0.05); (4) At week 12, the referral rate was significantly lower in the intervention group (11.17%) than in the control group (21.33%); (5) The intervention group was better than the control group for the mean monthly medication costs, number of days on errors in childhood, and number of days mistakenly worked by family members at week 12 (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

The current process of diagnosis and treatment of chronic cough in children at primary hospitals can improve the effective diagnosis and treatment rate, the quality of life, and other parameters, with good effectiveness and feasibility.