Hemoptysis
Brisk bleeding from the tracheobronchial tree is one of the more dramatic symptoms with which a patient may present to the emergency department. In all cases, it is essential to verify that blood originates from within the tracheobronchial tree and not from the gastrointestinal tract or nasopharynx. In this regard, tracheobronchial blood is usually bright red and frothy, whereas gastrointestinal blood is usually dark red or brown, acidic, and often mixed with partially digested food particles. Although vomiting usually accompanies gastrointestinal bleeding, coughing typically initiates and accompanies hemoptysis.
As in any patient with blood loss, hemodynamic stabilization is an immediate priority and should be managed as described in “Management of Hemorrhagic Shock Due to Gastrointestinal Bleeding,” in Chapter 28.
COMMON CAUSES OF HEMOPTYSIS
Bacterial pneumonitis
Congestive heart failure (CHF)
Bronchogenic carcinoma*
LESS COMMON CAUSES OF HEMOPTYSIS NOT TO BE MISSED
Mitral stenosis
Pulmonary infarction
Pulmonary embolism
Bronchial adenoma
Tuberculosis*
Acute tracheobronchitis
OTHER CAUSES OF HEMOPTYSIS
HISTORY
Patients with a history of CHF may have hemoptysis developed solely on the basis of increased pulmonary venous pressure; this is particularly true in patients with mitral stenosis and associated pulmonary venous hypertension. Hemoptysis in patients with CHF is usually not massive, and patients typically produce blood-streaked or frothy pinkish red sputum. Pulmonary tuberculosis should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of hemoptysis, particularly in patients with long-standing active disease. Chronic smokers in whom hemoptysis develops should be suspected of harboring a bronchogenic carcinoma, and 50% of bronchial neoplasms are said to produce tracheobronchial bleeding at some time during their course. The bacterial pneumonias commonly produce blood-tinged sputum at some time in their course, although massive hemoptysis is unusual. Among hospitalized patients, pulmonary infarction is a more common cause of hemoptysis, and occasionally, pulmonary embolism not associated with actual infarction may produce mild tracheobronchial bleeding. If pleural pain accompanies hemoptysis, particularly in a sedentary or hypercoagulable patient, pulmonary embolism should be considered. Bronchiectasis, although a relatively uncommon disorder, is routinely accompanied by hemoptysis to such a degree that many patients are not alarmed by it.
PHYSICAL EXAMINATION
Fever and cough productive of purulent sputum suggest bacterial pneumonitis. The physical examination may confirm the presence of focal pulmonary consolidation in patients with pneumonia but is expected to be essentially unremarkable in patients with acute tracheobronchitis. Weight loss and cachexia in a smoker with hemoptysis should suggest the possibility of bronchogenic carcinoma. Cachexia, chronic cough, posttussive rales, and amphoric breath sounds at the apices are noted in patients with reactivated tuberculosis. Rales, an S3