[Angiographic diagnosis of haemoptysis with particular reference to angiomas of the bronchial arteries (author's transl)].

It is hardly ever assumed that pulmonary bleeding can be due to the presence of angioma racemosum arteriovenosum. This is not only because it is relatively rare, but also because it cannot be visualised in conventional x-ray films of the lung. It is also not accessible to more detailed and invasive lung diagnosis. Definite confirmation is only possible via selective bronchial arteriography, which is too rarely applied during diagnostic differentiation. The authors observed angioma racemosum arteriovenosum in seven out of 47 patients in whom angiography had been performed after single or repeated haemoptysis; in six of these patients, the angioma was removed by surgery. Bronchial arteriography not only enables visualisation of the characteristic vascular patterns, but also to differentiate this disease against other pulmonary disorders which may also be responsible for the occurrence of haemoptysis. Furthermore, the angiogram enables exact determination of the extension and localisation of the angioma, this being an important prerequisite of successful thoracosurgery.