Chest clinic Thorax: first published as 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2012-202058 on 7 June 2012. Downloaded from CASE BASED DISCUSSION A therapeutic conundrum: recurrent cystic-fibrosis-related haemoptysis complicated by acute pulmonary embolism William G Flight,1,2 Rowland J Bright-Thomas,1,2 Stephen Butterfield,3 Andrew M Jones,1,2 A Kevin Webb1,2 1Manchester Adult Cystic ABSTRACT mutations has a recognised association with Fibrosis Centre, Manchester, UK 2 2 The authors present the case of an older patient with delayed diagnosis of CF. As patients with CF start Respiratory Research Group, to live into old age, CF physicians will increasingly University of Manchester, cystic fibrosis (CF) and recurrent haemoptysis Manchester, UK complicated by acute pulmonary embolism. The patient need to be alert to diseases of ageing never 3Department of Radiology, was treated successfully with a combination of previously considered relevant to CF. University Hospital of South anticoagulation and bronchial artery embolisation. The Haemoptysis is a common complication of CF Manchester, Manchester, UK management of CF-related haemoptysis, the impact of with a 5-year incidence of 9.1% in one study.3 The Correspondence to an ageing CF population and the incidence of pathophysiology of haemoptysis in CF is poorly Dr William G Flight, Manchester thromboembolic disease in CF are discussed. understood but characteristically involves the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre, development of tortuous, dilated vessels in University Hospital of South the bronchial circulation. Treatment has been the Manchester NHS Foundation subject of consensus guidance4 and centres on Trust, Southmoor Road, Manchester M23 9LT, UK; CASE REPORT appropriate antibiotic therapy with bronchial william.fl[email protected] Dr Flight (WGF): A 72-year-old man with cystic artery embolisation (BAE) recommended as the fibrosis (CF) was admitted to hospital with recur- treatment of choice for massive haemoptysis. Received 17 April 2012 rent haemoptysis. He was a compound heterozy- Tranexamic acid is an anti-fibrinolytic drug that is Accepted 4 May 2012 gote for the F508del and R117H-7T mutations of effective in reducing bleeding related to post- Published Online First the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance partum haemorrhage and several surgical proce- 7 June 2012 regulator (CFTR) gene. CF had been diagnosed at dures. Although tranexamic acid is commonly used the age of 65 prior to which he had been labelled as in CF-related haemoptysis there is no robust fi Chest clinic having asthma and non-CF bronchiectasis. Baseline evidence to support its ef cacy or safety in this http://thorax.bmj.com/ forced expiratory volume in 1 s was 36% predicted setting. Concern has previously been raised over an and he was chronically infected with Pseudomonas increased risk of venous thromboembolism with aeruginosa and Burkholderia multivorans. His regular tranexamic acid but this has not been resolved therapy included long-term oral corticosteroids for conclusively as yet. allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis and nebul- WGF: Following discharge, the patient continued ised colistin. In addition to multiple complications of to experience streaks of blood in his sputum on CF he also had a history of cataracts, age-related a daily basis. He was re-admitted 2 weeks later with macular degeneration, hypertension, peptic ulcer haemoptysis and symptoms of a viral upper respi- on September 30, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. disease, colonic polyps, benign prostatic hypertrophy ratory tract infection. On the day of admission he and basal cell carcinomas of the skin. had expectorated half a cupful of fresh red blood. On On the day of admission he had expectorated arrival to hospital he was comfortable at rest with approximately a third of a cup of bright red blood. normal vital signs. Oxygen saturations were 97% on Intravenous tranexamic acid was administered at air. An ECG revealed normal sinus rhythm and a dose of 1 g four times daily alongside intravenous a chest radiograph was unchanged from previously. temocillin, tobramycin and co-trimoxazole. The Two hours after presentation, he suddenly haemoptysis gradually resolved and he was developed breathlessness and chest tightness. discharged 2 weeks later to continue oral Examination revealed him to be tachypnoeic, tranexamic acid 1 g twice daily. tachycardic and hypotensive. Oxygen saturations Professor Webb (AKW): First, this case illustrates had dropped to 78% on air. A repeat ECG showed an increasingly important phenomenon in the care new right bundle branch block. An urgent CT- of patients with CF: the ageing patient. The pulmonary angiogram demonstrated a large survival of people with CF has steadily increased thrombus involving the left main, left upper and over recent decades1 and patients are frequently left lower lobe pulmonary arteries (see figure 1A). living into their sixth decade and beyond. Much of Serum troponin I was elevated at 0.51 mg/litre. this improved life expectancy is due to multidisci- AKW: The patient has developed two potentially plinary specialist care but a proportion is accounted fatal pulmonary emergencies: persistent major for by greater numbers of late diagnoses afforded by haemoptysis and concurrent acute pulmonary identification of rarer cystic fibrosis transmembrane embolism (PE). This scenario is a genuine thera- conductance regulator mutations. Compound peutic conundrum. Anticoagulation is required to heterozygosity for the F508del and R117H-7T prevent further thrombosis while, simultaneously, Thorax 2012;67:931–932. doi:10.1136/thoraxjnl-2012-202058 931 Chest clinic Thorax: first published as 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2012-202058 on 7 June 2012. Downloaded from Figure 1 (A) CT pulmonary angiogram demonstrating thrombus in the left main and upper lobe pulmonary arteries (white arrow). (B) Coronal CT reconstruction illustrating a dilated bronchial artery arising from the descending aorta (black arrow). further bleeding must be avoided. When there is a risk of specialties. The principles of management in this situation are significant haemorrhage, anticoagulation is best achieved with applicable to a number of conditions in respiratory medicine, intravenous unfractionated heparin and close monitoring of the such as the patient with lung cancer, aspergilloma or myriad activated partial thromboplastin time. In the event of life- other causes of haemoptysis. threatening bleeding, the intravenous heparin can be quickly The scenario described is highly unusual in CF, however, and discontinued. If possible, the cause of the bleeding should be to my knowledge has not been reported before. Idiopathic PE identified and reversed. In the event of bleeding preventing safe alone is considered exceptionally rare in patients with CF. anticoagulation, the insertion of an inferior vena cava filter is Previous reports of PE in CF have all been associated with venous a further therapeutic option. access device related thrombosis. In this case it is certainly WGF: Intravenous heparin was commenced and the patient possible that the use of the tranexamic acid contributed to the was also treated with intravenous temocillin and tobramycin. development of venous thrombosis. The risks associated with High-flow oxygen was administered to achieve target saturations such pro-thrombotic drugs remain uncertain and need to be of 94e98%. Fluid resuscitation was given and tranexamic acid addressed in future studies. was discontinued. An inferior vena cava filter was considered but As the CF population ages it is reasonable to expect that the was not pursued as the CT examination showed no evidence of incidence of venous thrombosis in this population will steadily Chest clinic venous thrombosis in the legs or pelvis. Despite the above rise. Since haemoptysis is such a common feature of CF, it stands measures, the patient experienced ongoing substantial haemopt- to reason that we shall also see concurrent haemoptysis and http://thorax.bmj.com/ ysis. Advice from the interventional radiology service was sought. thromboembolic disease with increasing frequency. Dr Butterfield (Interventional Radiology): My first step was to The key learning points to be taken from this case are: review the original CT pulmonary angiogram study. CT recon- 1. The CF population is getting older and diseases associated structions were performed which revealed a dilated bronchial with ageing are increasingly relevant to the CF physician. artery arising from the descending aorta (see figure 1B). We 2. Bronchial artery embolisation represents the therapy of elected to perform a bronchial artery angiogram with the aim of choice for massive haemoptysis in CF. embolising any potential sources of bleeding from the bronchial 3. CF physicians should be alert to the possibility of PE in their circulation. The dilated bronchial artery identified on the CT patients, a diagnosis which is easily overlooked in the context on September 30, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. scan was supra-selectively catheterised and embolised to stasis of severe CF lung disease. with polyvinyl alcohol. 4. The conundrum of acute PE in the context of major bleeding The available evidence suggests that BAE is an effective requires a delicate balance of anticoagulation and correction treatment for massive haemoptysis in CF. There have been no of the underlying haemorrhage. randomised trials of BAE in CF but large case series suggest that Contributors WGF wrote the first draft. All authors contributed to the final acute bleeding is controlled