Clinical Study of Patients with Bloody Sputum

Between January 1990 and December 1992, 240 patients visited or were referred to our hospital because of bloody sputum. Chest X-ray studies and cytologic examination of sputum were carried out on all patients and bronchoscopy in 185 patients of all. These examinations showed lung cancer in 54 patients, laryngeal cancer in 1 patient, old pulmonary tuberculosis in 16 patients, bronchiectasis in 11 patients, acute bronchitis in 11 patients, upper respiratory tract inflammation in 6 patients, middle lobe syndrome in 6 patients, bronchial asthma in 4 patients, atypical mycobacteriosis in 4 patients, diffuse panbronchiolitis in 3 patients, pneumonia in 2 patients, chronic bronchitis in 2 patients, active pulmonary tuberculosis in 2 patients, 4 other cases and an unknown cause in 114 patients. Our results revealed that approximately 23% of all the patients with bloody sputum suffering from lung cancer and that careful check-up and bronchoscopic examination is required for early diagnosis of lung cancer