Part II Conditions in Which Cough Is a Symptom. Acute cough is transient. It occurs most frequently in association with the common cold. On occasion is it may represent a potentially life threatening condition such as pulmonary embolism, congestive heart failure and pneumonia. Sometimes an acute cough can persist and become a chronic cough.
Chronic cough can sometimes be due to more than one condition.
Patients with PNDS present with cough, a sensation of something dripping into the throat, a need to clear the throat, a tickle in the throat, nasal congestion and or nasal discharge. Sometimes they complain of hoarseness. There may also be the presence of a wheeze. On physical examination they are found to have drainage in the posterior pharynx, a cobblestone appearance of the orophayngeal mucosa and mucus in the oropharynx. Newer generation, nonsedating antihistamines, have not been shown to be as effective.