[Clinical characteristics of whooping cough pneumonia in adults]

The data of adult whooping cough pneumonia patients admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical College from January 2023 to December 2024 were retrospectively analyzed, and the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ) was used to analyze the severity of the patients' cough and the decline of their quality of life, and to summarize the clinical manifestation, imaging feature, and bronchoscopic manifestation. A total of 24 adult patients with whooping cough, 13 males and 11 females, aged (56.0±15.9) years, were included, and all of them had cough as the cheif complaint. Using fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) levels, they were divided into the elevated FeNO group [>25 ppb (1 ppb=1×10^-9)) and the normal FeNO group (5-25 ppb).The total LCQ score of the 24 patients was (10.6±3.1) points. The total LCQ score [(8.9±2.8) vs (12.1±2.5) points] and psychological score [(2.8±1.5) vs (4.5±1.7) points] of females were lower than those of males (all P<0.05); the total LCQ score [(8.7±2.3) vs (11.2±3.1) points] and psychological score [(2.6±0.8) vs (4.6±1.6) points] of the FeNO elevation group were lower than those of the FeNO normal group (all P<0.05).Chest CT in the 24 patients showed bronchial wall thickening (79.1%, 19/24), patchy infiltrating shadow (54.2%, 13/24), solid lung shadow (45.8%, 11/24), intrapulmonary striated shadow (29.2%, 7/24), and dendritic sign (16.7%, 4/24) and ground glass density shadow (12.5%, 3/24). Bronchoscopy showed mucosal congestion and edema in all cases (100%, 24/24), and in some cases, purulent secretion (66.7%, 16/24), mucus plug (20.8%, 5/24), inflammatory stenosis of the lumen (8.3%, 2/24), mucosal erosions (4.2%, 1/24), and mucosal leukoplakia (4.2%, 1/24). Whooping cough in adults was characterized by cough as the cheif complaint, decreased LCQ score, lower LCQ score in the elevated FeNO group compared to the normal FeNO group, and imaging manifestations of bronchiolitis, pneumonia, and bronchoscopic lesions of varying severity. Adult patients with cough who do not respond well to conventional treatment need to be alerted to pertussis infection.