Abstract

The Hippocratic aphorism, "the spitting of pur follows the spitting of blood, consumption follows the spitting of this, and death follows consumption," gives ancient documentation to the significance of hemoptysis in the intrathoracic disease. Hemoptysis is still one of the most alarming and startling of all symptoms. For most patients and not a few doctors, the expectoration of blood signals either pulmonary tuberculosis or cancer. But with the advent of modern thoracic surgical methods, differential diagnosis has become doubly important and appropriate treatment has provided the patients with full recovery or improvement of hemoptysis. Author reviewed 72 cases of patients with a chief complaint of hemoptysis, who were performed open thoracotomies in the Dept. of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Pusan National University Hospital for 5 years from April 1980 to March 1985. The results were as follows: 1. The mean age of hemoptysis patients was 35.1 year old with a range from 16 to 64, and hemoptysis was most prevalent in the twenties and male dominant. 2. The most common underlying lung disease of hemoptysis was bronchiectasis [37.5%]. 3. The monthly peak frequency of hemoptysis was in the February [25.[%]. 4. Left lower lobe was the most common site of developing hemoptysis. 5. Lobectomy was the most frequent operative method of all open thoracotomies. 6. The hemoptysis caused by lung cancer recurred most frequently [21.4%], and the prognosis of operation was desperate. 7. The common postoperative complications of hemoptysis patient were re-hemoptysis [24%], bleeding [20%], and atelectasis [16%], and immediate postoperative mortality rate was 2.8%. was 2.8%.

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