Slinger, Claire and Derbyshire, K. and Prior, Katherine and Slinger, Richard and Lever, Hannah (2023) ‘I never felt like this before’ clinical presentations of patients referred to a tertiary airways service following Covid-19 infection. Thorax, 77 (Suppl.): A203. ISSN 0040-6376
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Introduction Laryngeal dysfunction can present as a spectrum of clinical presentations, including Inducible laryngeal obstruction (ILO) and/or Chronic Cough (CC). ILO and CC can occur following an initial viral insult (Hull et al). In our Tertiary Airways service, we noted an increase in the numbers of referrals for patients with upper airway and laryngeal symptoms following infection with Covid-19. Aims To describe the clinical presentations of patients referred to our service with laryngeal and upper airway symptoms following Covid-19 infection. Methods Referrals received between April 2020 and May 2022 with suspected laryngeal dysfunction (ILO, CC or heightened laryngeal sensitivity) following Covid infection were reviewed. Electronic records were searched for referral information, demographic details, and assessment results. Results 66 (18%) referrals out of 362 received within the time period were for symptoms following infection with Covid-19. 57 patients (86%) had no premorbid laryngeal difficulties before Covid-19 infection. Mean age was 53 (range 27–75), and 71% were female. 98% were of White British ethnicity. Reason for referral was categorised into four types, with 34 patients having more than one reason cited. To date, 38 of the 66 patients have had laryngoscopic assessment, which confirmed ILO for 26 patients. 21 of the 26 (80%) did not have ILO before Covid-19 infection. 13 of the 26 patients with ILO had suspected ILO on referral, whilst 13 did not. A binary logistic regression using referral reason as the predictor for ILO was non-significant, indicating that no specific referral reason predicted subsequent ILO diagnosis with laryngoscopy.