2. Life threatening hemoptysis (LTH)
LTH better than “massive” hemoptysis
Value of clinical history
Physical findings
Laboratory data
Chest X-ray
Optionally other image techniques
Bronchoscopy
3. Causes of hemoptysis
Infections
Bronchitis
Tuberculosis
Fungus
Pneumonia
Lung abscess
Bronchiectasis
Tumors
Bronchial cancer
Carcinoid
Cardiovascular
Lung infarct
Mitral stenosis
Trauma
Other
Foreign body
Hemorrhagic diatesis
Goodpasture and
other immunological
disorders
5. Uncommon, sometimes neglected,
causes of LTH: infections
Viral lung or bronchial infection (usually
associated with disseminated iv
coagulation and bleeding diathesis)
Necrotizing bronchial fungal infection
Bacterial endocarditis
Mycotic intrathoracic aneurisms
Hirudo medicinalis (common leech)
6. S. aureus infection in healthy
•Gillet Y. Association between S. aureus strains
carrying gene for Panton-Valentine leukocidin and
highly lethal necrotising pneumonia in young
immunocompetent patients. Lancet 2002;359:753-
59.
•Boussaud V. Life-threatening hemoptysis in
adults with CAP due to PV leukocidin-secreting S.
aureus. Intensive Care Med 2003;29:1840-3.
•Francis J. Severe Community-onset pneumonia
in healthy adults caused by methicillin-resistant S.
aureus carrying the PV leukocidin genes.CID2005
9. Lung abscess and LTH
Thomas NW. Life-threatening hemoptysis in
primary lung abscess. Ann Thorac Surg
1972;14:347
Sequential filling-emptying pattern is a warning
sign of massive hemoptysis in lung abscess:
urgent surgery must be considered
Philpott NJ. Lung abscess: a neglected cause of
life-threatening hemoptysis. Thorax 1993;48:674
Recommends surgery if LTH in chronic abscess
10. Uncommon, sometimes neglected,
causes of LTH: cardiovascular
Eisenmenger syndrome
Mitral stenosis
Left ventricle pseudoaneurysm
Aortobronchial fistulas
Vascular pulmonary abnormalities
associated with liver disease
11. Vascular disease
BRONCHIAL CIRCULATION
Angiomes and aneurisms of bronchial arteries
Varicosities in chronic liver disease
Vasculitides
Arterial hypervascularization secondary to:
Inflammatory process
Tumors
Congenital heart disease
Chronic stenosis of pulmonary artery
14. Vascular abnormalities in chronic
liver disease
Man KM et al. Pulmonary varices presenting as
a solitary lung mass in a patient with end-stage
liver disease. Chest 1994;106:294-6.
Schnader J et al. Hemoptysis, hepatopulmonary
syndrome and respiratory failure. Clinical
conference on management dilemmas. Chest
1997;111:1724-32.
Youssef A et al. Hemoptysis secondary to
bronchial varices associated with alcoholic liver
cirrhosis and portal hypertension. Am J
Gastroenterol 1994;89:1562-3.
15. Uncommon, sometimes neglected,
causes of LTH: vasculitis
Tracheobronchial form of Wegener
Behçet vasculitis
Hughes-Stovin syndrome
Takayasu arteritis
16. Uncommon, sometimes neglected,
causes of LTH: congenital abnormalities
Agenesis of pulmonary artery
Congenital anomalies of large mediastinal
vessels, such as hemitruncus
Cystic disease with/without laryngeal
papylomatosis
Pulmonary sequestration
Accessory cardiac bronchus
17. Uncommon, sometimes neglected,
causes of LTH: tumors
Some pulmonary metastasis (angiosarcoma
and hepatocellular carcinoma)
Some endobronchial metastasis (thyroid
papillar carcinoma)
Cystic mediastinal mass
Inflammatory pseudotumor
Pulmonary cavernous hemangiomatosis
18. Uncommon, sometimes neglected,
causes of LTH: other bronchial
abnormalities
Broncholithiasis
Tracheopatia osteochondroplastica
Aspiration of foreign body
19.
20. Causes of Diffuse Alveolar
Hemorrhage (DAH) - 1
Bone marrow transplantation, especially
autologous
Drug-induced pulmonary hemorrhage
Isolated pulmonary capillaritis with negative
antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies
Pulmonary arterial fibromuscular dysplasia
DAH associated with high altitude edema
DAH with positive antiglomerular basement
membrane antibodies without renal involvement
Idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis
22. Keypoints in DAH
DAH may be the initial form of
presentation
There is no correlation between the
amount of expectorated blood and the real
volume of alveolar bleeding
If glomerular involvement, deterioration of
renal function may be very quick
Value of progressively hemorrhagic BAL
Value of sequential DLCO in non-acute
setting
26. General measures in LTH
Immediate intubation and mechanical ventilation if
Asphyxia
Hypovolemic shock
Evaluate admission to the respiratory and ICU
Nothing by mouth
Ipsilateral decubitus lying on the alleged bleeding site
Intravenous line
Evaluate local applicability of the general algorithmic
approach
Provision to allow rapid blood replacement
Control of bleeding speed and volume of expectorated
blood
Chest radiograph
Routine blood tests: consider specialized tests if indicated
Consider specialized diagnostic procedures if indicated
27. Hemoptysis, X-ray and FOB
Misdiagnoses if classical criteria are followed
Hemoptysis > 7 days
Age > 40
Smoking habit
FOB in any hemoptysis without diagnosis:
Increasing incidence of tumor even in age < 40
Overall % of cancer on long-term follow-up: 4%
A variety of other non-tumor diagnoses by FOB
LTH is unpredictable
Low morbidity (0.08%) and mortality (0.01) of FOB
28. LTH: technical aspects of FOB
ENT evaluation is mandatory
Aspiration channel > 2.6 mm of Ø
Avoid FOB-related bleeding iatrogenia:
Bronchiectasis
Carcinoid tumor
Bronchial angiomas
Aneurysms of pulmonary artery
Removal of old foreign body
29. Iatrogenic causes of LTH - 1
Surgical corrections of congenital heart disease
Endobronchial brachytherapy
Self-expanding, indwelling airway and esophageal stent-
related fistulas
Bronchoscopy-related bleeding complications
Migration to lung of vascular and heart (cardioverter
defribillator) patches
Aortobronchial fistula after vascular aortic thoracic graft
Coronary angiography with abciximab infusion
Late bleeding after anticoagulation therapy in pulmonary
embolism
Bronchial artery infusion of cytostatic therapy to treat
pulmonary metastasis
30. Iatrogenic causes of LTH - 2
Pulmonary irradiation
Lymphoma and other mediastinal tumors
irradiation
Catheter-induced pulmonary artery lesion
Transtracheal aspiration
Percutaneous lung aspiration
Long-standing tracheostomy with
tracheoinnominate artery fistula
Thrombolytic therapy, especially with
unsuspected cavitary lung disease
Retained intrathoracic old gauze (“gauzeoma”) or
sponge
31.
32. Iatrogenic causes of LTH - 3
Bronchovascular fistula after lung transplantation
Drug-induced bleeding diathesis: DAH
Intravascular migration of fractured sternal wire
after median sternotomy
Positive pressure ventilation in patients with
cavitary tuberculosis
Bronchovascular fistula after lung transplantation
Bronchial stump aspergillosis in old
endobronchial silk thread sutures
Hemoptysis secondary to veno-occlusive
pulmonary disease (VOPD) after Glen operation
Pulmonary venous stenosis after catheter
radiofrequency ablation
33. Hellical CT in LTH
Great blood vessels disease
Usually X-ray, FOB and BAE are first options
Often confusing “mass-like” images in lung
parenchima
Frequent accumulation of blood at the bottom of
both lungs.
Relevance of accurate technique: thin section,
“helical CT”,…
34. General measures in LTH
Immediate intubation and mechanical ventilation if
Asphyxia
Hypovolemic shock
Evaluate admission to the respiratory and ICU
Nothing by mouth
Ipsilateral decubitus lying on the alleged bleeding site
Intravenous line
Evaluate local applicability of the general algorithmic
approach
Provision to allow rapid blood replacement
Control of bleeding speed and volume of expectorated
blood
Chest radiograph
Routine blood tests: consider specialized tests if indicated
Consider specialized diagnostic procedures if indicated
35. LTH
General measures
Transitory measures to stop bleeding
Angiography with embolization
Identification of the anatomical origin of bleeding
Bronchoscopic measures
+
Is the patient stable and is resection technically feasible?
Is surgery 1st ?
Appropriate
medical treatment
Surgery
YES NO
YES
NO
36. Bronchial artery embolization (BAE)
Anatomic variability both in number and localization
Direct visualization of site of bleeding is very
difficult
Sometimes hypervascularized areas are extensive
and bilateral
Sometimes origin of bleeding is in collateral
systemic circulation
Percentage of origin of bleeding in pulmonary
circulation is very low
Risk if anterior spinal artery from bronchial artery
(<5%)
37. Complications of BAE
Spinal complication (paraplegia)
Chest pain
Dysphagia
Main-stem bronchus infarction
Bronchial stenosis
Splenic or other systemic infarct
Bronchial-esophageal fistula
Paradoxic embolization or migration of coil
Pulmonary hypertension (if left-to-right shunt)
Referres pain to the ipsilateral forehead and orbit
38. Drugs reported to be potentially effective in
some causes of LTH
Tranexamix acid, especially in mucoviscidosis*
Vasopressin*
Immunosupressive drugs and steroids in some
cases of DAH and vasculitis
Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa)
Percutaneous intracavitary treatment in lung
fungal infection
Cidofovir in juvenile laryngeal papillomatosis-
related multicystic disease
Anticoagulant therapy in embolism
Hormone: LAM; thoracic endometriosis
Corrective therapy of coaguloptahies
* Anecdotal reports and uncontrolled studies