HAEMOPTYSIS - INDICATIONS FOR BRONCHOSCOPY.

Fifty patients who were taken up for bronchoscopy for evaluation of haemoptysis have been studied retrospectively in order to confirm specific diagnosis, identify the bleeding site and find the incidence of malignancy and other lesions in lower respiratory tract. We encountered over all 30% diagnostic yield. Malignancy was found in 4% of our patients and overall diagnostic yield was higher (35.7%) in patients of more than 40 years of age as compared to that (26.6%) in patients younger than 40 years of age. Criteria and indications of bronchoscopic examination in haemoptysis have been described.