Hemoptysis is a common medical concern of which massive hemoptysis is a medical emergency. Mortality is very high if not treated urgently. Majority of the massive hemoptysis are cryptogenic and management poses a moderately difficult task. Conservative management is ineffective in maximum number of cases. Surgery is not a good option because in most of the cases no definitive pathology has been found. Thus prompt and effective treatment is of crucial importance. Bronchial artery embolization is the treatment of choice in those cases. It was first described in the literature in 1970 by Remy[1] and over a period of time it has become a well established treatment for patients with massive hemoptysis.[2,3] We evaluated 14 patients with massive hemoptysis and studied the effectiveness of this interventional procedure that we carried out in this study. Embolization was performed in all patients using polyvinyl alcohol particles of 300-500 µm and in some cases with coiling. Hemoptysis was controlled in all patients after embolization. While recurrence of hemoptysis is a common occurrence, it was mild in cryptogenic hemoptysis in contrast to severe in non-cryptogenic hemoptysis. A repeat transarterial embolization is a safe and effective technique to manage those cryptogenic hemoptysis.
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2022: 6.012
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