Haemoptysis is a common complication of pulmonary aspergillosis, being reported in 52-78% of patients.' 2 Although most episodes are minor, some patients will succumb to massive haemoptysis.34 While surgical resection has been recommended for patients with massive haemoptysis it is not without considerable risk. We report the use of selective bronchial artery embolisation in a patient about to ...

Objective: To compare the outcome of surgical resection for aspergilloma between patients with post-tuberculous complex and neutropenia. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed our surgical experience with pulmonary resection for aspergilloma in 30 patients. Of the 20 patients with complex aspergilloma complicating healed tuberculosis (group 1), 14 were male and six were female with an average age...

A 50-year-old white man with recurrent major haemoptysis is described. The main problem in management was in detecting the aetiology and source of the haemoptysis. Rigid bronchoscopy is essential in the evaluation and treatment of patients with massive haemoptysis, and once the site of bleeding has been established, pulmonary resection offers the best chance of survival. The operation performed...

BACKGROUND Haemoptysis is a common clinical symptom. A small proportion of patients present with haemoptysis and normal chest radiograph. The investigation strategy for this group of patients is unclear. The aim of this study is to see whether further investigations for this group of patients are justified. METHODS A retrospective analysis was conducted of consecutive patients presenting with...

Haemoptysis is a potentially life-threatening condition with the need for prompt diagnosis. In about 10-20% of all cases the bleeding source remains unexplained with the standard diagnostic approach. The aim of this article is to show the necessity of widening the diagnostic approach to haemoptysis with consideration of pulmonary venous stenosis as a possible cause of even severe haemoptysis an...

We thank L. Mascitelli and colleagues for their interesting comments about the role of the renin–angiotensin system in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Our review [1] was intended to provide guidance on current established therapies rather than consider potential future treatment options and hence we did not include a comment relevant to this interesting but, as yet, unproven treat...

The successful use of recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa), in treating massive, life-threatening haemoptysis in a 55-year-old male patient with chronic necrotising aspergillosis, is reported. Patient diagnosed with chronic necrotising aspergillosis three months ago was admitted to our department with massive haemoptysis. Patient was treated as outpatient with itraconazole. One day post-ad...

Casks of haemoptysis clue to malarial infection must be exceedingly rare, yet the case about to be recorded appears to be one. During the past 61 years I have had occasion to treat 1,056 cases of acute malaria and 6,388 of chronic malaria, yet I have not previously seen haemoptysis, apparently due to malarial infection. In Osier and McCrae's System of Medicine,* where a comprehensive list of tw...

Haemoptysis is defined as expectoration of blood originating from the lungs or tracheo-bronchial tree. It is attributed to various causes like tuberculosis, bronchiectasis, lung cancer, mycetoma, foreign bodies etc. Various types of foreign bodies have been reported in the literature. We report the case of an adult female patient who presented with an episode of haemoptysis (150 mL) in whom fle...

INTRODUCTION Haemoptysis in pregnancy is frequently assumed to be caused by a pulmonary embolism. However, it can also be an indicator of serious pathology. CASE PRESENTATION We report the case of a 27-year-old Caucasian woman who presented with haemoptysis in pregnancy that was discovered to be caused by a well-differentiated fetal adenocarcinoma of the lung. CONCLUSION This case demonstra...