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VIDEO: Avoid measures that may mask etiology of chronic cough

NEW ORLEANS – For patients with a cough lasting longer than 8 weeks, clinicians should obtain an x-ray, stop ACE inhibitors if the patient is taking them, and reconsider any empiric therapy they may have started, Kenneth Altman, MD, PhD, chief of otolaryngology at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston, told Healio Family Medicine.

“The importance of objective testing is really paramount so we aren’t neglecting any potentially serious disease,” Altman said.

Disclosure: Altman reports being a consultant for Kay Pentax and Bayer.