ABSTRACT
Cough-variant asthma is the most common cause of chronic cough. It may progress to classic asthma and therefore requires adequate treatment intervention. We experienced two cases of cough-variant asthma that was refractory to standard drug therapy but improved after additional administration of kumibinroto. In Case 1, the patient was a 46-year-old woman receiving hormone therapy after breast cancer surgery. She developed cough-variant asthma 5 years ago, and though she has received drug therapy, the symptoms aggravated. Cough continued to appear at night without improvement of asthma symptoms. However, the symptoms improved with subsequent administration of kumibinroto. In Case 2, the patient was a 47-year-old woman who developed cough-variant asthma after childbirth, which repeatedly worsened and improved. The cough-variant asthma aggravated after change of workplace and did not improve with drug therapy. However, asthma symptoms improved with oral administration of kumibinroto and hangekobokuto, and subsequent administration of kumibinroto alone. In both patients, the asthma was seasonal. These cases suggest that kumibinroto administration may contribute to the improvement of cough-variant asthma.