Prolonged cough is a common problem in patients seen in general practice. Using a simple method of sputum induction and processing of sputum samples, we determined whether eosinophilic airway inflammation could be a cause of undiagnosed prolonged cough. Eighty-two patients who had had cough for more than 1 month were enrolled into the study, in six primary healthcare centres. Patients with known pulmonary disease, including asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or who were known to have another cause of cough, or to have recently suffered from a respiratory infection, were excluded. Fifty-three healthy individuals served as controls. Sputum was induced by inhalation of 3

作者：P, Rytil?；T, Metso；T, Pet?ys；A, Sohlman；H, Ty?lahti；P, Kohonen-Jalonen；P, Kiviniemi；T, Haahtela

来源：Respiratory medicine 2002 年 96卷 1期