How to go about the treatment in a patient with chronic cough?

Question

Hi doctor,

My mother underwent gallbladder surgery 10 months ago. For the past three months, she started having a chronic cough. She tried many home remedies. She did not recover completely. I took my mother recently for a health checkup. As I suspected the chest report was not fine. But, the doctor was not at all concerned about her cough and said everything is normal. Why is it so? I want to know what is the meaning of this X-ray report and what should be our next step. Presently she is under medication for thyroid as well as diabetes. I have attached her reports. Kindly have a look at them and suggest how to go about the treatment.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Thanks for choosing this platform.

As you said your mother is having chronic cough four months after surgery. It can be just a coincidental finding as her X-ray (attachment removed to protect patient identity) is showing prominent basal vascular markings and the cough can be aggravated by surgery.

The X-ray findings are suggestive of an interstitial lung disease called lung fibrosis which can be confirmed only after an HRCT (high-resolution computed tomography) scan of the chest.

So at the earliest, I advise you to do an HRCT scan of the chest to rule out IPF (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis). Once the diagnosis is made, treatment can be started accordingly.

IPF or lung fibrosis is a chronic and progressive condition. So, a diagnosis should be made as early as possible. Talk to your pulmonologist regarding further investigations and treatment. He will guide you better as frequent follow-up visits are required for monitoring the disease.

The treatment plan would be steroids and immunosuppressants. Strict control of BP (blood pressure) and blood sugar is a must.