MayoClinic.com reprints
This single copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. For permission to reprint multiple copies or to order presentation-ready copies for distribution, use the reprints link below.
· Order reprints of this article now.
Coughing up blood (hemoptysis): Is this serious?
By Mayo Clinic staff
- With Mayo Clinic emeritus internist
Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Dr. Edward Rosenow III sees a natural link between the Information Age and health care as a way to promote better health. Dr. Rosenow, a Columbus, Ohio, native, is board certified in internal medicine and pulmonary disease and worked in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. He retired from clinical practice in 1996 after 30 years' service at Mayo Clinic.
"It has always been my feeling that the better informed the patient is about his or her body and its functions, the better the patient-physician partnership," he says. "The informed patient is in turn more compliant with the physician's recommendations and better able to make intelligent decisions about health care needs."
Dr. Rosenow is a former Arthur M. and Gladys D. Gray Professor of Medicine and former chair of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Mayo Clinic. He was also president of the American College of Chest Physicians, consultant to NASA on the Space Station Freedom project, president of the Mayo Clinic staff, a regent with the American College of Chest Physicians and program director of the internal medicine residency program at Mayo Clinic.
During his distinguished career, Dr. Rosenow was a five-time Teacher of the Year in internal medicine and inducted into the Mayo Fellows Hall of Fame of Outstanding Teachers.
In 1994, he won the Distinguished Mayo Clinician Award from Mayo Clinic staff and in 1995 was honored with the Ralph O. Claypoole Sr. Memorial Award for Lifetime Dedication to Patient Care by the American College of Physicians. He was named to a mastership by the American College of Physicians in 1998 and that year also won the Mayo Foundation Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is also a Master Fellow in the American College of Chest Physicians. In 2008, a professorship was established in his name — the Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D., Mayo Professorship in the Art of Medicine.
Dr. Rosenow has contributed to 156 publications, including 48 book chapters and one co-authored book.
Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Question
Coughing up blood (hemoptysis): Is this serious?
What causes someone to cough up blood? Is this serious?
Answer
from Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Coughing up blood (hemoptysis) can be a frightening experience. However, it isn't necessarily serious. Known causes of hemoptysis include:
- Lung infections such as bronchitis, pneumonia or bronchiectasis
- Violent coughing
- Fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema)
- A blood clot in the lung (pulmonary embolism)
- Lung cancer
- Some forms of heart failure
- Trauma to the chest, such as from a car accident
- Foreign objects lodged in your airway
- Abuse of certain drugs, such as cocaine
A doctor may use a variety of procedures to determine the cause of hemoptysis, including:
- Chest X-ray
- Computerized tomography (CT) scan of the chest
- Bronchoscopy, a procedure in which a flexible tube is inserted into your airway to allow the doctor to see inside your windpipe (trachea) and airways (bronchial tubes)
- Lung biopsy
- Echocardiogram
When possible, treatment of hemoptysis is directed at the underlying cause. However, in many cases, the cause of hemoptysis can't be determined — doctors refer to this as cryptogenic hemoptysis. In such cases, your doctor will likely monitor your condition. Further testing also may be recommended.
Consult your doctor if you notice blood in your sputum. It is very important to exclude the serious causes of hemoptysis. If it is a large quantity of blood — more than a few teaspoons — seek emergency medical care.
