Hemoptysis: bronchoscopic-computed tomographic correlation in ninety eight cases

To retrospectively evaluate the efficiency of the fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) examination compared to computed tomography (CT) in the evaluation of patients with hemoptysis. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 98 patients who underwent FOB and CT for hemoptysis. There were 78 male and 20 female. The mean age was 46 years with a range from 18 to 80 years Results: Hemoptysis was attributed bronchiectasis in 19 (19.4%) cases, bronchogenic carcinoma in 18 (18.3%) cases, bronchitis in 23 (23.4%) cases, tuberculosis in 7 (7%) cases, cryptogenic causes in 28 (28.5) cases and miscellanous causes in 3 (3%) cases (a perforated hydatid cyst, a mitral stenosis and an intrabronchial foreign body). Endobronchial abnormalities were seen on CT but not at FOB in 4 of the 18 patients with malignancy. In contrast endobronchial abnormalities were identified at FOB but not seen by CT in 3 patients. CT and FOB agreed on only 11 of these 18 patients. Conclusion: FOB can be used for patients with hemoptysis with reduced cost compared to CT and frequently may lead to a precise histologic diagnosis and subsequent early surgical management. But both FOB and CT should be used for a complete diagnosis and appropriate therapy planning in most patients with hemoptysis.