Hemoptysis in Israeli CF patients - Prevalence, treatment, and clinical characteristics

Objective: To identify the characteristics of CF patients with hemoptysis in Israel and to compare clinical features and risk factors to a control group of CF patients without hemoptysis. Design: Retrospective chart review. Patients: All CF patients in Israel who experienced hemoptysis between 2001 and 2005 and a control group of sex- and age-matched patients with no history of hemoptysis. Results: 40/440 CF patients (9.1%) experienced hemoptysis during the study period, 50% were male. Ten patients (25%) were under 13 years old at the first hemoptysis episode. Pulmonary exacerbation was the precipitating factor in 90%. Twenty three patients showed moderate or major hemoptysis. 35/40 patients responded well to conservative therapy. Bronchial artery embolization (BAE) was performed in 5 patients with no recurrence of bleed within 24 h. However all of these patients experienced recurrent hemoptysis. One patient died during the follow-up period because of end stage lung disease. Pulmonary function tests, body-mass index, coagulation tests, pancreatic status, presence of bronchiectasis, sputum cultures and genetic mutations were similar in the two groups. A high incidence (57.5%) of associated diseases including cystic fibrosis related diabetes, cirrhosis and portal hypertension, and distal intestinal obstruction syndrome was found among hemoptysis patients, compared to only 5.2% in the control group (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Hemoptysis, even major, did not seem to be a risk factor for mortality in our patients. A higher incidence of hemoptysis was found in our pediatric patients compared to other series. BAE shows a high immediate rate of success in controlling hemoptysis, but does not prevent future disease.