Bronchoscopy to assess patients with hemoptysis: which is the optimal timing?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Bronchoscopy plays a key role to diagnose the etiology, to localize the site, and to identify the sources of the bleeding in patients with hemoptysis, but the ideal timing of an endoscopic examination is still unclear.

Methods

We performed a secondary analysis of an observational and multicenter study, aimed at evaluating the epidemiology of hemoptysis in Italy and the diagnostic yield of the most frequently prescribed examinations. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether an early bronchoscopy (i.e., performed during active bleeding/≤48 h after hemoptysis stopped) helps localize bleeding (i.e., site, lobe, lung) and increase diagnostic yield in comparison with a delayed examination.

Results

Four hundred eighty-six consecutive adult patients (69.2% male

SUBMITTER: Mondoni M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6371580 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature