Massive hemoptysis can be life-threatening and is frequently encountered in clinical practice, but rare during pregnancy. There have been limited case reports of massive hemoptysis in pregnancy in patients with conditions such as Takayasu's arteritis, bronchiectasis, bronchial carcinoid tumor, and tuberculosis. The most important management is early control of the hemorrhage and airway protection. We report on 2 patients at 33 and 27 gestational weeks who were admitted to the emergency department because of massive hemoptysis. Therapeutic rigid bronchoscopy with the application of high-frequency jet ventilation was performed under general anesthesia during cesarean section to control potential bleeding and stabilize the airway; this was then followed by bronchial artery embolization (BAE) postsurgically. The lives of both mothers and infants were saved. At the 16- and 11-month follow-ups, the patients showed no symptoms. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the application of therapeutic rigid bronchoscopy concurrent with cesarean section in order to protect the airway and reduce the side effects of the subsequent treatment for both mother and fetus in hemoptysis cases. By reporting these cases and conducting a literature review, we present a novel treatment method for massive hemoptysis in pregnant patients that may improve patients' outcomes.
Keywords: Massive hemoptysis; bronchial artery embolization (BAE); case reports; pregnancy; rigid bronchoscopy.
2021 Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved.