HEMOPTYSIS, BRONCHIAL EROSION AND BRONCHITIS *

HEMOPTYSIS, alarming to the patient and ominous in the eyes of the physician, often justifies the dread with which it is regarded. However, this is not invariably so, and many cases of even severe respiratory tract hemor-rhage may prove benign in origin. Approximately one fourth1 of all pa-tients with hemoptysis will present no etiologic explanation for this symp-tom, even after exhaustive diagnostic studies have been carried out. Frequently such patients quickly recover their usual state of health and have no further difficulty. Obviously, then, the great majority of these individuals do not have cancer or tuberculosis or even bronchiectasis, and their hemoptysis must be attributed to a much less serious disorder. It is the authors ' opinion that respiratory tract bleeding in many of these cases is related to minor inflammatory disease of the bronchial mucosa which leads to erosion or cracking of this structure, with resulting hemorrhage of variable degree, in much the same manner that inflammatory disease of the nasal mucosa may lead to epistaxis. The purpose of this paper is