Longitudinal Study of Children With a Chronic Cough and the Impact of Gastroesophageal Reflux
Status:
Withdrawn
Trial end date:
2008-10-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Cough is both an important physiologic component of lung defense and a cardinal indicator of
disease. For those with chronic cough, defined as cough lasting for more than 3 weeks, the
differential diagnosis is broad, including self-limited, persistent, and chronic diseases.
The success of a given treatment depends upon a proper diagnosis, yet this is often not
obvious. Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) has been proposed as one possible etiology of a
chronic cough in a number of studies in the adult literature; nevertheless a clear cause and
effect remains to be confirmed as there continues to be no gold standard test definitively to
identify pathologic GER. Each year, billions of dollars are directed towards diagnosing and
treating GER as it relates to adults and children with a chronic cough but without solid
proof of effect.
We propose to test the null hypothesis that there is no causative role of GER with regards to
the etiology of chronic cough in children. If the null hypothesis proves true, this has
important medical and economic ramifications, as it would suggest that treatment of acid
reflux for chronic cough in a child is unwarranted. With this conclusion, health care costs
would be reduced and children spared inappropriate medication.