Analysis of Patients with Hemoptysis in a Tertiary Referral Hospital

• Published in: Tuberculosis and respiratory diseases Vol. 73; no. 2; pp. 107 - 114
• Main Authors: Lee, Bo Ram, Yu, Jin Yeong, Ban, Hee Jung, Oh, In Jae, Kim, Kyu Sik, Kwon, Yong Soo, Kim, Yu Il, Kim, Young Chul, Lim, Sung Chul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 대한결핵 및 호흡기학회 30.08.2012
• Subjects: Diagnosis; Etiology; Hemoptysis; Therapeutics; Treatment Outcome; Treatment Outcome; Hemoptysis; Diagnosis; Etiology; Therapeutics
• ISSN: 1738-3536; 2005-6184

Background: This study attempted to investigate the main causes of hemoptysis, the type of examinations used for diagnosis, the treatment modalities and outcomes. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on the medical records of 221 patients admitted to the Chonnam National University Hospital, between January 2005 and February 2010, with hemoptysis. Results: Bronchiectasis (32.6%), active pulmonary tuberculosis (18.5%), fungus ball (10.8%), and lung cancer (5.9%) accounted for most causes of hemoptysis. Computed tomography scan was the most sensitive diagnostic test when employed alone, with positive yield of 93.2%. There were 161 cases of conservative treatment (72.9%), 42 cases of bronchial artery embolization (BAE) (19.0%), and 18 cases of surgery (8.1%). Regarding the amount of hemoptysis, 70 cases, out of 221 cases, were mild (31.5%), 36 cases moderate (16.2%), and 115 cases massive hemoptysis (52.0%). Most of the patients were treated conservatively, but if there was more bleeding present, BAE or surgery was more commonly performed than the conservative treatment (p≤0.0001). In the multivariate model, severe hemoptysis and lung cancer were independently associated with short-term recurrence. BAE was independently associated with long-term recurrence, and lung cancer was associated with in-hospital mortality. The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 11.3%. Conclusion: Hemoptysis is a common symptom with a good prognosis in most cases. However, patients exhibiting massive bleeding or those with malignancy had a poorer prognosis. In-hospital mortality was strongly related to the cause, especially in lung cancer.