A 68-Year-Old Woman With Refractory Cough and Insidious Tracheal Thickening

A 68-year-old woman presented to a subspecialty complex-airways-disease clinic with chronic cough. She had a 10-pack-year history of smoking, quit over 35 years ago, and had mild atopy (dust mite) and mild rhinitis. She did not have any relevant occupational exposure or comorbidities. Her cough was relentless day and night, associated with incontinence, vomiting, and social and functional impairment. It had been present for years, though it changed in nature over time. She also reported one to two episodes of streaky hemoptysis. She had not noticed significant benefit with nasal or inhaled corticosteroids, but short bursts of prednisone had temporarily modestly improved her cough.