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Massive haemoptysis: an unusual connection
  1. Aimee Leadbetter1,
  2. Quentin Jones1,
  3. Paul Foley2,
  4. Andy Beale3
  1. 1Department of Respiratory Medicine, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Swindon, UK
  2. 2Wiltshire Cardiac Centre, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Swindon, UK
  3. 3Department of Radiology, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Swindon, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Aimee Leadbetter, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Swindon SN3 6BB, UK; aimee.leadbetter{at}nhs.net

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Description

A 60-year-old man presented with a 4-day history of small volume haemoptysis. His medical history revealed a pericardiectomy with pericardial window creation for severe constrictive pericarditis secondary to seropositive rheumatoid arthritis in 1997 and pulmonary tuberculosis aged 7, with a treated recurrence in 2005. He was a lifelong smoker of 20 cigarettes per day. He lived independently. His regular medication included prednisolone 10 mg and meloxicam.

On examination, he looked unwell. His heart rate was 140, respiratory rate 22 and oxygen saturations 96% on air. Auscultation revealed crepitations at the left lung base. He had 500 mL of brisk haemoptysis. His haemoglobin fell from 85 to 73 g/L. Inflammatory markers were raised (C reactive protein 169 mg/L, white cell count 14.7×109/L, neutrophil count 12.9×109/L), prothrombin time ratio was mildly raised (1.4), platelet count was …

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Footnotes

  • Contributors All authors contributed to patient management. AL and QJ drafted the initial manuscript. PF and AB selected appropriate images. All authors reviewed the manuscript and have provided consent for publication.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.