Analysis of the etiology of hemoptysis and its diagnosis and treatment in 106 cases

Abstract

To investigate the etiology and clinical manifestation of hemoptysis in children. A retrospective analysis was performed for 106 cases of hemoptysis who were admitted to The Second Affiliated Hospital & Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from January 2005 to December 2014.The clinical information including laboratory tests and image data were collected and analyzed. A total of 106 patients (50 males and 56 females) were identified. The median age was 9.1 years (range 2 months to 18 years). Pneumonia (35, 31.1%) was the most common etiology of hemoptysis, which included bacterial pneumonia (27 cases), mycoplasmal pneumonia(4 cases), chlamydial pneumonia (3 cases), and influenza pneumonia(1 case). Other causes included bronchitis(15, 14.2%), pulmonary tuberculosis (11, 10.4%), bronchiectasis (11, 10.4%), diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (8, 7.5%), idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis(6, 5.7%), cardiovascular dysplasia(6, 5.7%), pulmonary contusion (4, 3.8%), foreign body in bronchus (2, 1.9%), allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (2, 1.9%). Eighty-six patients manifested mild hemoptysis; moderate and massive hemoptysis were found in nine and eleven patients, respectively. Pneumonia accounted for 33.7% of mild hemoptysis and 45.5% of massive hemoptysis were due to bronchiectasis; 80.2% were treated with antibiotics and 41.5% were given hemostatic agents; 8.5% received lobectomy. Ninety-six patients (90.6%) were cured and parents gave up treatment in 4 cases (3.8%). Six patients (5.7%) suffered from recurrent hemoptysis. Hemoptysis mainly occurred in children who were older than 6 years, the most common cause of hemoptysis was respiratory tract infection. In most cases, the amount of hemoptysis was small and the overall prognosis was good.