Urokinase Like Plasminogen Activator Levels in Patients Undergoing Bronchoscopy

Utility of Serum and Bronchoalveolar Fluid Urokinase Like Plasminogen Activator Levels in Defining Patients at Higher Risk of Hemoptysis.

Some of the risk factors for bleeding following bronchoscopy is having a malignancy or an immunocompromised state. The etiology of this remains uncertain. The investigators suspect that individuals with malignancy have abnormalities involving certain factors that influence the coagulation pathway.

The investigators plan to measure these factors prior to and after bronchoscopy.

This is a prospective observational study looking at some coagulation factors in individuals with lung cancer. We are looking at BAL and plasma. We would like to see if there is a difference in the levels and if this is the reason behind the higher incidence of hemoptysis in patients with lung cancer.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Any patient scheduled to undergo bronchoscopy

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with evidence of coagulopathy either iatrogenic or the result of disease process - coagulopathy defined as elevated prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time or platelet count less than 100,000
• Patients not scheduled to undergo bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL)