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Discharge of blood from the larynx, trachea, bronchi, or lungs.



the expectoration of blood with the sputum.

Hemoptysic sputum may be blood-streaked or mixed with blood (”rusty sputum”). Pure blood may be spit up, scarlet and sometimes in large quantities (for example, in pulmonary hemorrhage). Hemoptysis is seen with tuberculosis and bronchiectasis; with tumors, inflammations, abscesses, and infarctions of a lung; with certain heart diseases; and with diseases of the blood system. Hemoptysis can be caused by the ulceration or rupture of a blood vessel, congestion in the lungs, or increased permeability of the walls of the small blood vessels. Sometimes it occurs when blood flows into the respiratory passages as a result of a nosebleed or bleeding gums. The first aid for hemoptysis involves placing the victim in a semi-recumbent position with an icebag on his chest. He should not be allowed to talk. The condition is treated by eliminating the primary cause and administering hemostatics.

References in periodicals archive ?
Lung cancer Symptoms: A new cough lasting longer than three weeks, coughing up blood or unexplained breathlessness.
I just thought he had swallowed a pen lid but I knew something was wrong when he started coughing up blood and making panicked noises," Karon said.
I couldn't eat or talk properly, I was coughing up blood, I had earache and a lump on my neck the size of a tangerine - classic symptoms of cancer.
Popping to the surface he pulled off his oxygen mask, which he had retained, found himself coughing up blood and having a hard time breathing, but afloat and alive.