[Is bronchial fiberscopy always indicated in hemoptysis? Apropos of 427 tests].

The authors report the results of a retrospective study of 427 fiberoptic bronchoscopies in patients with haemoptysis. The patients were classified into 4 groups according to the results: Group I: a specific diagnosis was made (cancer, tuberculosis, infection); 151 cases (35 p. 100); Group II: inflammatory mucosa, 172 cases (40 p. 100); Group III: normal bronchoscopy, 84 cases (20 p. 100); Group IV, only blood, 20 cases (5 p. 100). Of the 151 patients in Group I, 12 had a normal chest X-ray (8 p. 100); seven of them had bronchopulmonary carcinoma (7 out of 65 cases of cancer: 10.7 p. 100). These results show that bronchoscopy is essential in cases of haemoptysis even when the chest X-ray is normal.