Selective Bronchial Arteriography and Hemoptysis in Nonmalignant Lung Disease

¹ Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

We consider that in the majority of cases, bloody sputum or hemoptysis in nonmalignant diseases is derived from the bronchial circulatory system. Selective bronchial arteriographic examination was performed in 122 patients with benign pulmonary diseases. In the markedly hypervascular group, the patients who had blood in sputum were significantly larger in number than those of moderate or mild groups. Bronchopulmonary anastomosis was found in 45 patients. Out of the 45 patients, 23 had blood in sputum or hemoptysis whereas 19 of the remaining 77 without anastomosis had this episode. The difference in frequency of blood in sputum or hemoptysis between these two groups with or without the anastomosis was statistically significant (P < 0.01). Moreover, of the 13 patients with both marked hypervascularity and bronchopulmonary anastomosis, nine (70 percent) had bloody sputum or hemoptysis.