Prognosis of bronchial artery embolization in the management of hemoptysis

Background: Bronchial artery embolization (BAE) is a well-accepted and widely used treatment modality for the management of massive and recurrent hemoptysis. However, few reports have previously investigated the long-term results. Objectives: To investigate the prognosis of patients with hemoptysis who had undergone BAE. Methods: Twenty-two patients with hemoptysis underwent BAE. The underlying diseases included bronchiectasis in 9, aspergillosis in 3, chronic bronchitis in 2, idiopathic bronchial bleeding in 4, and other diseases in 4. The follow-up period ranged from 25 to 88 months (median 47 months). Results: After the initial BAE, 11 of 22 (50%) patients had re- bleeding (5 patients with hemoptysis and 6 patients with minor hemosputa). Among them, 1 patient suffered from recurrent massive hemoptysis and died from airway obstruction within 1 month after BAE. In addition, 10 of these 11 (90.9%) patients experienced recurrent airway bleeding within 3 years after BAE. Recurrent cases of hemoptysis were seen in 6 of 22 patients (27.3%) within 3 years and no case recurred later than 3 years after BAE. A recurrence of hemoptysis was frequently seen in patients with either bronchiectasis or pulmonary-bronchial artery (P-B) shunt. Although BAE is an effective treatment for the immediate control of hemoptysis, 5 of the patients experienced recurrent bleeding in the long-term follow-up. Conclusions: It is important to follow-up such patients until 3 years after initial BAE, especially when either ectatic changes of the bronchi on a CT scan or a P-B shunt on angiographic findings are detected. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.