CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF HEMOPTYSIS

Abstract

The expectoration of blood is always an alarming experience for the patient and a matter of grave concern to the attending physician, because it may be the warning of serious disease. There is probably no symptom other than severe and acute pain that will stimulate a patient to seek medical aid as promptly as loss of blood for the first time from an unexplained source. When such bleeding occurs from the respiratory tract, the possibility of its being due to pulmonary tuberculosis or carcinoma of the lung is promptly suggested. It is unfortunate, indeed, that the severity of the bleeding is no guide as to the presence or absence of these diseases. It is imperative, therefore, that the patient with a history of hemoptysis have the benefit of thorough investigation to determine the cause of the bleeding. It is essential first to determine that the bleeding does not originate from